The Indian Army
is continuing to expand its airborne forces. The current ten battalions
are to be being expanded by two. There are two types of Indian parachute
battalions. Eight are special forces (formerly Para Commando)
battalions. That is, they are trained for operating against terrorists
and irregulars in peacetime but are also trained to use parachutes and
would do so in wartime as light infantry landed in enemy territory. The
other four battalions are not trained as special forces and are just
parachute infantry. The two new battalions will be parachute battalions
(not special forces, at least not immediately). India will station the
two new parachute battalions near the Chinese border, where more army
and air force units are being moved to match the Chinese buildup there
that has been going on for years.
The parachute battalions are but one component of Indian
special operations troops, which is a very varied group. For example,
the Special Protection Group personnel are assigned the task of
protection for India's Prime Minister and VIPs from terrorist attacks.
The elite MARCOS unit acts as India's Navy SEAL teams and performs
special ops on the high seas.
The primary counter-terror unit in the country is the 15,000
man National Security Guards and the ones who have borne most of the
responsibility for tackling India's persistent insurgent problems over
the last couple of decades. Over the last decade the army has formed a
force of over 7,200 commandos so that each of the 359 infantry
battalions in the army could have a twenty man Ghatak (commando)
platoon. This gave each battalion some well-equipped shock troops.
There are also special police units. These are not just SWAT,
but trained and equipped form more complex commando operations. These
police units, like most of the military special operators, spend a lot
of time dealing with Islamic terrorists and political and ethnic rebels
inside India.
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