SRINAGAR: Military veterans will be redeployed as security guards in India-occupied Kashmir, New Delhi said on Saturday, a week after reaching a ceasefire with Islamabad.

The government of the occupied state in Srinagar approved a “proposal for mobilising ex-servicemen (ESM) to safeguard vital infrastructure”, according to a government press release.

Around 4,000 veterans have been “identified” as non-combatant volunteers, out of which 435 have licensed personal weapons, it said.

This will help by “significantly enhancing the capacity to respond effectively to localised security situations”, the government added.

Veterans will work in “static guard” roles, focusing on “presence-based deterrence and local coordination”.

India already has an estimated half a million soldiers permanently deployed in held Kashmir.

But last year, thousands of additional troops, including special forces, were deployed across the occupied territory’s mountainous south following a series of deadly attacks that had left more than 50 soldiers dead in three years.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2025