INDIA: Nearly 10 months after it was mobilised in a state of alert along the 3,200-km-long Pakistan border, India's 1.1 million-strong army is feeling the strain.
"The long period of forward deployment is beginning to wear down troops, leading to a decline in operational efficiency and failure to check militant ingress," a federal security official in Kashmir said.
According to the Federal home ministry, a record 205 terrorists made their way across the LoC (Line of Control), which divides Jammu and Kashmir state, in August, a figure similar to infiltration levels during the same period two years ago, when deployment was significantly lower.
Militant intrusions over the past few weeks in the run-up to and during Kashmir's ongoing elections have been considerably higher, officials said. Over 50 people, including political workers and security forces personnel have died over the past week in attacks by terrorists determined to disrupt polling.
India blames Pakistan for fuelling Kashmir's 13-year-old Muslim insurgency for an independent homeland in which 35,000 people have died.
The army's "weariness" had also led to the Pakistani army occupying at least two Indian posts along the LoC, one of which was re-captured on July 29th, following one of the most serious engagements between the two armies since December. Fighting to reoccupy another post is reportedly continuing.
The two sides mobilised over 1 million troops in December 2001, coming close to war after the suicide attack by five gunmen on India's parliament. Tensions spiralled again in May after Pakistan-backed militants attacked a garrison in Jammu killing soldiers' family members. Conflict was averted after the US intervened, fearing hostilities might escalate into a nuclear exchange.
Thereafter, Pakistan's President Gen Pervez Musharraf assured India that all militant crossings into Indian-administered Kashmir would end. But India strongly refutes this claim.
Meanwhile, instances of indiscipline and "fragging" in the Indian army, where soldiers deployed on counter-insurgency operations (COIN) across Kashmir have shot dead senior officers, is rising.
The overall stress levels amongst troops, many of whom are suffering from hypertension, high blood pressure and excessive sweating is also worrying army headquarters in Delhi.
A large number of soldiers are reportedly being treated for psychological disorders as the deployment continues, with no indications of an imminent pullback or any clear-cut military, political or diplomatic objective in maintaining it.
Defence Minister Mr George Fernandes said recently this deployment would continue till "necessary".
Officers concede that the army's depressed plight is linked closely to the combat stress of COIN operations. Over 4,400 personnel, mostly from the army, have died on COIN duty since militancy erupted in 1989.
One senior officer admitted that stress-related cases of indiscipline had risen nearly 180 per cent since January.
The army authorities have acknowledged a "dip" in officer morale along the frontier and asked all formation commanders to concentrate on "managing the welfare of soldiers better".