NEW DELHI: India’s new army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag was leaving the podium after making formal remarks on assuming office on Friday.

The TV cameras were evidently not satisfied with his measured comments about defence preparedness and his soldiers’ welfare being a priority.

He was mobbed with a volley of hysterical questions even after he promised to come to the media after settling in his new job.

How would the chief respond to any future beheading of a soldier by Pakistanis?

Also read: New Indian army chief issues warning to Pakistan on first day

The answer was extracted in two instalments. First a departing Gen Suhag turned back, walked to the mike, and said India’s response would be “more than adequate”. But the chorus persisted. The response would be “intense and immediate”, the general added virtually complying with the Shakespearean mob’s blood lust.

Next, the Indian headlines were screaming. The army chief had “warned” Pakistan that India’s response to any provocation — like the beheading of a soldier last year — would be “more than adequate, intense and immediate”.

TV anchors, starved of news in the Modi era, with a virtual clampdown on “leakages”, a rampant feature of the Manmohan Singh government, massaged the comments gleefully.

All they needed was a carelessly macho former military man hooked up from Pakistan, and an array of standard hawks among security analysts and regular loudmouths. And we had a freshly contrived atmospherics being readied for the foreign secretaries’ talks in Islamabad on August 25.

“We dare you to start a war, and you will be delivered the same fate again,” thundered a former Indian general.

“We are fighting in Waziristan to protect you,” bleated the Pakistani naval officer whose name I forget. “But if you want to fight us you are welcome to try crossing the border.” The air of bravado was distinctly TV friendly. Kindergarten classes would handle this more maturely.

On Thursday, outgoing chief Bikram Singh had said, again at the prodding of the media, that India gave a “befitting reply” after an Indian soldier was beheaded by Pakistani troops in January, 2013, along the Line of Control.

“It has been done. Please understand that when we use force, that use is from tactical to operational to strategic levels. When I mention that during that incident, it was aimed at operations at the tactical level, which have been undertaken. I think this has been done by the local commander, the chiefs have nothing to do with it,” General Singh said.

General Suhag was asked to clarify what that “befitting reply” was.

“My predecessor has already conveyed this yesterday, I can only tell you that our response to any such act will be more than adequate in future,” he said, speaking to reporters after a guard of honour welcoming him as the new commander.

Lance Naik Hemraj Singh was beheaded and another soldier was killed allegedly by Pakistani troops who crossed over into Indian territory in the Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir on January 8 last year. That incident and a series of ceasefire violations took the strained ties between the neighbours to a new low.

Later in August, five Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush in the same sector, in a joint attack by Pakistani Special Forces and terrorists, Indian reports say.

What the new chief wanted to say on the opening day at work was pushed to the last paragraph.

General Suhag said he would prioritise the effectiveness of the 1.3 million-strong force, one report said. “My focus will be my soldiers... to enhance the preparedness and the effectiveness of the Indian Army. I will ensure that our soldiers are motivated, they are comfortable, competently trained and are provided with latest weapons and equipment,” he said.

Published in Dawn, Aug 2nd , 2014