Islamabad, April 26, 2005, Imtiaz Gul (The Telegraph)

The friendly meet over, Pervez Musharraf and his military brass today took stock of India’s overall defence status.

Pakistan’s formation commanders, who had gathered here for a two-day conference, reviewed Delhi’s Cold Start Doctrine, its newly-raised South-Western command and discussed a range of operational issues and the regional security situation.

The Cold Start Doctrine revolves around replacing the concept of mobilisation of forces and strike corps with eight integrated battle groups, comprising elements of the air force and navy, as thrust formations for hard strikes to the point that should not invite any nuclear retaliation.

The doctrine was unveiled in March 2004.

On the final day of the conference, President Musharraf told his formation commanders that Pakistan “will maintain the minimum defensive deterrence both in the conventional and non-conventional areas”.

An official statement released later said, apart from the Cold Start Doctrine, “the newly-raised South-Western command” to boost India’s defences on the western border with Pakistan, its rapid reaction force and special forces command” were discussed.