Kargil Vijay Diwas: 3 lessons from Kargil war, more relevant today

Eighteen years ago, the over 60-day Kargil war came to an end this day as India took command of the outposts taken over by Pakistani intruders.


On the 18th Kargil Vijay Diwas, named after Operation Vijay, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley remembered the martyrs of the Kargil War.

"Remembering our brave soldiers who fought gallantly for the pride of our nation and the security of our citizens during the Kargil War," said Narendra Modi on Twitter.

Arun Jaitley also saluted the "valour of our soldiers" on Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Eighteen years since Kargil War was fought, the lessons learnt from it continue to be relevant even today.

1) IT IS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE WAR

Kargil was called a low-intensity conflict and a 'limited war' but it highlighted deficiencies in India's intelligence and reinforced the need for a robust and forward-looking defence and logistics network.

Then Defence Minister George Fernandes at a conference on Asian security in January 2000 said that India has shown during the Kargil War that it can fight and win a limited war at a time and place chosen by the aggressor. The Kargil War lasted for more than 60 days.

Nearly two decades later when India is engaged in a standoff with China on Doklam even as its relations with Pakistan continue to be fragile, the concerns about India's battle-readiness remain.

Going by a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), of the 152 types of ammunition identified as critical, stock for 61 of them is available for 10 days only.

The CAG report also observed that due to shortage of ammunition, the Army Headquarters imposed "restriction" on training.

At the ongoing Parliament session, Arun Jaitley, however, said that armed forces are sufficiently equipped and that the CAG report points to a certain period in time. "Subsequently thereafter, significant progress has been made," he said.

2) DIPLOMACY VS SECURITY

The Lahore Declaration in February 1999 was a step forward in improving the India-Pakistan relations. Months later, the Kargil War started in May.

The Kargil War showed that bilateral treaties and security don't always go together.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise stopover to Lahore in December 2015 while coming back from Afghanistan. The Prime Minister was received at the airport by his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif with a warm hug.

A week later, terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force station, in which seven security personnel and a civilian were killed.

3) PAKISTAN ARMY ALWAYS CALLS THE SHOT

While then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee engaged with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for bilateral talks, several analysts believed that the war was in the making ever since Pervez Musharraf took over as Pakistan Army chief in October 1998.

While Nawaz Sharif's claims that he did not know about his army's plans are debatable, the realities on the ground have changed little in terms of the all-powerful army still calling the shots in Pakistan.