Photos: Kargil Vijay Diwas, remembering India’s victory 18 years on
Updated On Aug 09, 2017 01:56 PM IST
On the 18th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, a look back at India's victory in the 1999 Kargil War, the fourth military conflict between India and Pakistan.
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Updated on Aug 09, 2017 01:56 PM IST
July 26 marks 18 years of India’s victory over Pakistan in the Kargil War, a high altitude mountain war that broke out in May 1999 along the peaks of Kargil near the Line of Control, the de-facto border that divides Kashmir between the two nations. This fourth full-fledged military showdown between the two countries followed earlier encounters in 1947, 1965 and 1971, erupting after military infiltrators from Pakistan were detected taking control of hills by local nomads in the Indian territory. (Manish Swarup / HT Photo)
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Updated on Aug 09, 2017 01:56 PM IST
The conflict in Kargil broke out after intrusion by Pakistani elements was reported by local nomads on May 03, 1999 in the Kargil region. The harsh winter months had traditionally seen a seasonal abandonment of forward posts and reduced patrolling along the LoC by both sides which was acted upon by the Pakistan Army by deployment and encroachment of Indian outposts in February 1999. The raising of the alarm came barely a fortnight after the Lahore Declaration was signed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif calling for resolution of issues in Jammu and Kashmir and mutual understanding on nuclear arsenals. (Manish Swarup / HT PHoto)
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Preliminary investigations by the Indian Army into reports of infiltrations along Batalik sector revealed that tactics and firepower being used were unlike those associated with insurgents and further reports of incursions along Dras, Mushkoh and Kaksar sectors forced the Government of India to engage Operation Vijay with a mobilization of nearly 30,000 troops to the Kargil-Dras region. (Prakash Singh / HT Photo)
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The Kargil War is considered a rare example of high altitude warfare between two nuclear states. The difficult terrain of the region limited the extent of engagement with heavy artillery shelling the attack of choice owing to restrictions and risks to providing land support with arterial highways such as the NH 1D (Srinagar to Leh) under Pakistani fire. The Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar to supplement land efforts. (Manish Swarup / HT Photo)
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With supply routes under fire the direct objectives of the Indian Army were established as recapture of peaks along the supply routes under direct fire. The infiltrating force was believed to have been mostly armed with small arms, grenades, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns. The recovery of documents from Pakistani Army soldiers in early June implicated the involvement of Pakistan’s army in the attacks. These claims had earlier been denied by the Government of Pakistan which blamed ‘Kashmiri freedom fighters’ instead. (Manish Swarup / HT Photo)
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Heavy shelling and skirmishes continued despite the tactical disadvantage of visibility from higher up playing against Indian efforts to retake many peaks known simply by point numbers. Most efforts involved scaling Pakistani positions fortified with bunkers while Indian surface to air (SAM) artillery providing supplementary fire. (Sunil Saxena / HT Photo)
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The recapture of Tiger Hill, pictured above, figured as an important objective due to its strategic advantage as the highest peak in the Kargil-Dras sector. Mid June saw U.S President Bill Clinton intervening in the escalating crisis, calling on Nawaz Sharif to pull out troops from the region. India meanwhile launched strengthened efforts to reclaim its territories. (Manish Swarup / HT Photo)
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At the peak of the Kargil War, the Indian artillery is estimated to have been engaged in round the clock shelling with batteries firing over one round per minute. The Bofors Howitzers in India’s arsenal played a vital role in the efforts to retake and maintain control over positions. The Indian Army is estimated to have fired around 9,000 shells the day Tiger Hill was reclaimed. (Pradeep Bhatia / HT Photo)
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As the Indian army moved ahead, Nawaz Sharif announced the withdrawal of troops from the conflict in early July following his meeting with Bill Clinton. With Tiger Hill and Dras retaken in the first week of July, Pakistani forces began pulling out of the areas with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vaypayee declaring Operation Vijay a success on July 14, 1999. The operation officially came to an end on July 26, marked since as Vijay Diwas (Victory Day). (Manish Swarup / HT Photo)
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Updated on Aug 09, 2017 01:56 PM IST