Today the country is once again remembering the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the motherland during the Kargil war. Today, 25 years of Kargil Vijay Diwas have been completed, this is the day when the Indian Army, showing amazing courage and indomitable bravery, defeated Pakistan in the Kargil war. There is also an incident related to this war when India was ready to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and the then Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif had to appeal to US President Bill Clinton.
The then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was pretending to be unaware of this conflict for a long time even though he knew that with the help of infiltrators and soldiers, Pakistan Army had made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Indian positions in Kargil. As soon as Pakistan got a befitting reply from India and had to face defeat, Sharif ran to America to seek help and save power amid the war.
Sharif was surprised by Clinton’s attitude
However, the then US President Bill Clinton refused to give them any kind of help and said that Pakistan would have to withdraw its army from there. Because of this, President Clinton is known in history as the first President of America who supported India against Pakistan. He had insisted during the Kargil War that Pakistan should withdraw from Kargil to its side of the Line of Control (LOC).
Also read: Story of Kargil war… In the words of those peaks, where Indian heroes painted the ice glacier with blood.
He had rejected every argument presented by Pakistan to continue occupation of Kargil till the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is resolved. Furthermore, he did not accept the suggested condition that he should agree to mediate between India and Pakistan.
This new stand of America surprised both India and Pakistan because Islamabad thought that America would support it as always and India did not expect that America would decide the issue on merits. Sharif was surprised by this stand of Clinton. This was Pakistan’s diplomatic defeat amid the Kargil war. Actually, Clinton had not taken this decision without any reason, the evidence that India had given to America about the conspiracy to attack Kargil at that time matched the American intelligence information.
There was preparation to cross LOC!
During the Kargil war, India was actually preparing to cross the Line of Control (LoC). Journalist Barkha Dutt writes in her book ‘The Unquiet Land – Stories from India’s Fault Lines’ that during the Kargil war of 1999, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sent a ‘secret letter’ to the then US President Bill Clinton, in which he had clearly Had given, ‘If Pakistani infiltrators do not return from Indian territory, we will throw them out in some way or the other.’
Dutt referred to an interview he had with former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra in which he had said: “The possibility of crossing the Line of Control (LoC) was not ruled out, nor was the possibility of use of nuclear weapons ruled out.” it was done.”
Also read: During Kargil, America told Pakistan, ‘India is going crazy, step back’
Preparations were made to open a new front of war
Dutt also wrote that the Indian Army had a ‘Six Day War’ contingency plan – deploying troops in such a way that if necessary the border separating India and Pakistan could be crossed in less than a week. To be. It has been revealed in the book that the Indian Army Chief had clearly told the Prime Minister that if we do not achieve the situation like before in Kargil, then I will have to attack somewhere else. He made it clear that a new war front could soon be opened in another part of the subcontinent – including crossing the border.”
It is said that after convincing Prime Minister Vajpayee, India’s General V.P. Malik had sent an army brigade from Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the western border. Also, the Eastern Fleet of the Navy was moved from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Both India and Pakistan wanted America to intervene, but on their terms. So when Clinton called Vajpayee and promised that the US was working on Pakistan to withdraw its troops from Indian territory, the Prime Minister remained silent.
Musharraf was scolded by American commander
It is told in the book that two days later, Clinton sent Anthony Zinni, Commander-in-Chief of the American Central Command, to Pakistan. Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf pressed for American mediation on Kashmir. Zinni bluntly told Musharraf, “My objective is Kargil, not Kashmir. If you do not step back, you will impose war and nuclear destruction on your own country.”
Pakistan had broken the agreement
Before 1999, there was an agreement between India and Pakistan that the soldiers of both the countries would not deploy their troops in winter in those areas where snow would accumulate. India followed this agreement but Pakistan followed it under deception. I had captured these hills. In this, he had reached many important areas including Dras, Tiger Hill and Kargil. The Pakistanis had made inroads within a radius of about 134 km.
India’s Operation Vijay
After this, as soon as India came to know that there was infiltration inside the border, then the Pakistani Army started Operation Vijay to drive out the infiltrator. The Kargil war was fought from 3 May 1999 to 26 July 1999. The Indian Army had won on 26 July. Since then this date is celebrated as Kargil Vijay Diwas. During the Kargil war, India lost 527 of its soldiers in 3 months. 1363 soldiers were injured in this war.
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