New Delhi: As the nation remembers its brave heroes on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, we take a look at how the war unfolded in 1999 and resulted in as Vijay Diwas.
Attention all readers, do you remember the date 26th July of year 1999 which we all Indians marked as Kargil Vijay Diwas, if yes then today we are going to tell that this war was won.
The armies of both the countries India and Pakistan fought the war in May-July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC).
To clear the Kargil sector of infiltration, India launched ‘Operation Vijay’ by the Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
Kargil was the first televised war viewed extensively by the country.
Here is how the war unfolded in 1999: The war:
May 4: Reports of infiltrators atop heights of Kargil. Strategic heights taken over by infiltrators, say reports.
May 5-15: Army patrol sent up to survey. Captain Saurabh Kalia goes missing. He is allegedly tortured and killed in captivity by Pakistani troops.
May 26: Indian Air Force launches air strikes. Flying from the Indian airfields of Srinagar, Avantipur and Adampur, ground attack aircraft MiG-21s, MiG-23s, MiG-27s, Jaguars and the Mirage 2000 strike insurgent positions.
May 27: An IAF MiG-27 goes down. Pilot, who ejects and is taken a prisoner of war by Pakistan, is released after eight days.
May 31: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee says it’s a “war-like situation” in Kargil
Read here this is how Indian Army won Kargil war marked as Vijay Diwas:
June 10: Pakistan returns mutilated bodies of six soldiers, India enraged. The six bodies were those of Lt. Saurav Kalia and his men who went to Kaksar area following reports of incursion by Pakistani infiltrators.
June 12: Deadlock at first crisis-time meeting between foreign ministers Jaswant Singh and Sartaj Aziz in Delhi. Aziz told intruders must leave
June 15: US President Bill Clinton urges the Pakistan PM to withdraw troops from Kargil
June 29: Army captures two important posts near Tiger Hill
July 4: Tiger Hill captured. Three battalions-18 Grenadiers, 2 Naga, and 8 Sikh-assault the peak with support from artillery. Nawaz Sharif meets Clinton in Washington
July 5: Sharif announces pull-out of Pakistani troops from Kargil
July 11: Pakistan begins pull out
July 14: India declares operation Vijay a success
July 26: Kargil war comes to an end. India announces complete eviction of Pakistani troops
The total number of casualties reported from both India and Pakistan sides:
The official death toll on the Indian side was 527, while that on the Pakistani side was between around 450.
