I had done my homework and told him that we will never be able to capture it in summer as the Pakistanis will preempt us, but it can be done in the winter. The Army Commander had known me from before and sarcastically remarked, “HS, you have spent too much time with Mechanised Forces and you need to understand High Altitude Warfare.” I reminded him of my infantry background, my Command of the pioneer Combat Group in Eastern Ladakh at similar heights and as a clincher I said, “The Pakistanis did it in Kargil, why should not we do it here?” I rubbed in the point by emphasising that if we do not do it in the winter, then the Pakistanis will be there in strength in summer, waiting for us. The Army Commander gave the go ahead in principle, subject to final decision, keeping in view the ambiguity with respect to Pt 5310.