Necessary clothes not available, weapons not available and on top of that America’s silence… The then army chief said something big about the Kargil war

New Delhi: General Ved Prakash Malik, who was the Army Chief during the Kargil war, said that during the 1999 Kargil war, the Indian Army did not have enough weapons and suitable clothes for the soldiers. Due to budget constraints since the early 90s, the army had to depend on the minimum necessary things, but despite these challenges, the soldiers showed indomitable courage and bravery to win the war. General Malik said that due to the nuclear test, America also did not share the intelligence information with India.

This challenge was before the deployment of soldiers
General Malik told The Print that the political and military leadership of that time was shocked by the intelligence failure that led to Pakistan’s sudden attack. Apart from this, the challenges of the high mountains and glaciers also came forward. Special uniforms and equipment were needed to fight these conditions, which we had very little of. General Malik said that getting the soldiers used to living at high altitudes before deploying them was also a challenge. Also, the army of that area did not know which mountain peaks the enemy had occupied.

‘The army had to depend on the minimum essentials’
General Malik, who was the Army Chief during the Kargil war, further said that due to winter, the aerial surveillance operation could not detect Pakistan’s occupation. Because at that time there were no drones, radars or ground surveillance equipment. There was also a shortage of weapons, ammunition and other equipment. Due to budget constraints in the early 1990s, the army had to depend on the minimum necessary things.America did not give information to India in time
Explaining the challenges posed by the Western sanctions imposed after India’s nuclear tests in 1998, he/she said that the US did not share the intelligence it had with us. he/she said, I must admit that some of our ammunition factories quickly produced the required ammunition on this occasion. Today, emphasis is being laid on self-reliant India in this field, it is good to see this.

Today China is more of a threat than Pakistan
he/she said that in today’s situation, China is the main threat and the external threat from Pakistan on the borders has reduced. I don’t think they will dare to launch a big attack like Kargil again. he/she said that there have been tremendous changes in defense technology, capability and principles. Looking at the threats and conflicts present today, political thinking is more active than in my time, which is a good thing.