Kargil Vijay Diwas: The war after which the army’s strategy and way of thinking changed, know what happened at that time

New Delhi: 25 years ago, when ‘Operation Vijay’ was successful in driving out the Pakistani army from the peaks of Kargil, everything changed, from the way the Indian army was deployed to its training. The strategy that was made till then also changed and the way of thinking about how and where the enemy can attack also changed. On 26 July, on the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the Drass War Memorial and will pay tribute to the brave soldiers who attained martyrdom while protecting the country. After the Kargil war that lasted for about two months in 1999, a lot changed in the Indian military. The Kargil Review Committee was formed, which made many recommendations. Slowly, those recommendations were implemented.

Strategy changed in last 25 years

In this entire operation, the Indian Army realized that the strategy would have to be changed to fight and win a war in high altitude and high mountains and the strategy has also changed in the last 25 years and the result of that was that four years ago in 2020, when China tried to change the status quo by cheating on the LAC in Eastern Ladakh, India responded to it in its own language. When Chinese soldiers advanced too far in the Finger Area on the northern shore of Pangong, Indian soldiers put China on the backfoot by occupying the high peaks on the southern shore of Pangong and then China came to the negotiating table. Although the deadlock has not ended there yet, but now both the countries have agreed to resolve it through talks and meetings are also being held continuously.

There were four battalions in the Kargil Brigade

25 years ago, the Kargil brigade had four battalions. Drass, Kaksar, Kargil and Batalik. The military understanding till that time and the experience of wars around the world told that if the enemy attacks anywhere, he/she will do so on an important object and will come from those places where there are at least tracks. All the deployments and training were being done from this perspective. On the banks of the river, where there were class-9 roads, i.e. a 9-ton vehicle could pass through there, an entire battalion of the army, i.e. about 800 soldiers were deployed. Similarly, where there were animal tracks, an army company, i.e. about 100-120 soldiers were deployed. On the foot tracks, a platoon, i.e. 30-40 soldiers were deployed. Pakistan had also done a similar deployment, i.e. mirror deployment. There was a lot of area in between these tracks where there was no one, which was not under anyone’s control.

When the Pakistanis started infiltrating in Kargil, they did so in an area that was untouched. India won this war. The country lost 527 of its brave soldiers but drove away the Pakistanis. After the Kargil war, the thinking changed that the enemy can target only a particular area. Then with new thinking, new strategies began to be made and training also began accordingly. Earlier, where the high-altitude posts were vacated in winters, now the soldiers remain stationed in every season.

See the complete timeline

• 25 years ago on May 3, a shepherd informed the Indian Army about the infiltration of Pakistani Army in Kargil.
• On May 5, the Indian Army sent its patrolling party
• On May 9, Pakistan fired on Indian ammunition dump in Kargil
• On May 10, for the first time, Pakistani intruders were seen in the entry points of Ladakh i.e. Dras, Kaksar, Mushkoh sector
• On May 26, the Indian Air Force was ordered to take action. The Air Force also used MiG-27 and MiG-29 against Pakistan.
• On 26 July 1999, India won the Kargil war.

Indian army gives special training to soldiers

The Indian Army gives special training to its soldiers before deploying them in high altitude areas. This has been happening even before the Kargil war. But after Kargil, a new battle school was established in the year 2000, in Drass where the most fierce battle of Kargil was fought. Before this, there used to be only HAWS i.e. High Altitude Warfare School where training was given to fight in high mountains day and night in all weathers. Now the Indian Army has two such schools where soldiers are being strengthened to fight in adverse conditions and protect their land, although before deployment in Siachen, soldiers have also been trained on the glacier. Deployment in Siachen is given only after three weeks of rigorous training in Siachen Battle School. Currently, the Indian Army has three such schools, HAWS, Kargil Battle School and Siachen Battle School, where soldiers are taught to climb and fight high mountains in low oxygen and minus temperature.