The brain behind this strategy was Brigadier Azizuddin, who was given charge of the Pakistani brigade in PoK in 1985, the year India and Pakistan held talks on a no-war pact (proposed by Pakistan) and a treaty of peace and friendship (proposed by India).

in its latest issue, the weekly says that the brigadier conceived the invasion plan after an intensive tour and study of the topography of PoK but was called back to Rawalpindi, the army's headquarters, before he could implement it.

In 1994 he was promoted and sent back to PoK as head of the Northern Command; that's when he finalised his intrusion plan. In 1998, when Maj. Gen Azizuddin became Chief of General Staff, officers in the Northern Command decided to implement it.

The report thus suggests that the plan wasalready under implementation when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Lahore in February this year. What the report does not say, however, is whether Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (who also holds the Defence portfolio) was taken into confidence about this plan. Similarly, there is no indication if then premier Benazir Bhutto was aware of it.