Kargil War 1999: India and Pakistan Fight in the Mountains

The Kargil War was a limited but intense conflict between India and Pakistan fought from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir. Pakistani soldiers and militants had secretly occupied high ridges on the Indian side of the Line of Control, the de facto border, and India launched a major military operation to drive them out. Coming a year after both countries tested nuclear weapons, the war alarmed the world and ended with a Pakistani withdrawal under heavy international pressure.

Background

Kashmir had been disputed since the partition of India in 1947 and the First Kashmir War that followed. Later wars in 1965 and 1971 did not settle the question, and the 1972 Simla Agreement turned the ceasefire line into the Line of Control. In 1984 the two armies had also begun fighting over the Siachen Glacier to the north.

In May 1998 India and then Pakistan carried out nuclear tests. Relations seemed to improve in February 1999, when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled by bus to Lahore and signed the Lahore Declaration with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Yet by then soldiers from Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry, together with militants, were already moving across the Line of Control.

The infiltration

Along the Kargil sector, both sides traditionally pulled back from the highest posts in winter, when temperatures fall far below freezing. During the winter of 1998-1999 Pakistani forces occupied many of these empty positions, some higher than 5,000 metres, overlooking the main road from Srinagar to Leh. Control of the road would threaten Indian supply lines to Ladakh and the Siachen area.

The intrusion was discovered in early May 1999, after local shepherds reported armed men on the ridges. Indian patrols sent to investigate came under fire. At first Pakistan said the fighters were independent Kashmiri militants, but evidence soon showed that regular Pakistani troops made up most of the force.

The fighting

India’s army launched Operation Vijay (“Victory”) and moved in large reinforcements. Troops had to climb steep, exposed slopes in thin air, often at night, against enemies dug in on the heights. The Indian Air Force joined from 26 May under the name Operation Safed Sagar, and lost two fighter jets and a helicopter in the first days. Political leaders ordered the armed forces not to cross the Line of Control, which limited their options.

Artillery played a decisive part, with Bofors howitzers firing directly at mountain positions. On 13 June Indian troops captured Tololing, near Drass, a turning point after weeks of costly attacks. Tiger Hill, one of the highest and best-known peaks, was retaken on 4 July. Many young officers were decorated for bravery, among them Captain Vikram Batra, who was killed in action and awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military honour, posthumously.

Diplomacy and the end of the war

The war threatened to escalate, and the international community put strong pressure on Pakistan to pull back. The United States, the G8 and even China, a close ally of Pakistan, called for respect for the Line of Control. On 4 July 1999 Nawaz Sharif met US President Bill Clinton in Washington and agreed to the withdrawal of the intruders.

Pakistani forces then withdrew, though fighting continued against those who remained. India announced on 26 July 1999 that all positions had been cleared, a date now marked as Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Casualties

India’s official toll was 527 soldiers killed and more than 1,300 wounded. Pakistani casualties are much less certain: official figures counted a few hundred dead, while Indian and some independent estimates were higher, and Pakistani leaders later gave differing numbers. Civilians in nearby villages were also displaced by shelling.

Consequences

In Pakistan, the war deepened a rift between Prime Minister Sharif and the army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, who had overseen the operation. In October 1999 Musharraf seized power in a military coup. In India, the government set up the Kargil Review Committee, chaired by the strategic analyst K. Subrahmanyam, which identified serious intelligence failures and led to reforms in defence and intelligence organisation.

The conflict also shaped thinking about nuclear deterrence. Some scholars argue it showed that nuclear weapons did not prevent limited war; others point out that both sides kept the fighting confined to a narrow sector. A major memorial was later built at Drass, close to the battlefields.

Key people

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s prime minister, chose to fight a limited war and kept forces on the Indian side of the line, a restraint that won international sympathy. On the Pakistani side, the extent to which Nawaz Sharif knew of the plan in advance remains disputed between him and General Musharraf.

Timeline

• 1999, 21 February: Vajpayee and Sharif sign the Lahore Declaration.
• 1999, early May: Shepherds and patrols detect intruders on the Kargil heights.
• 1999, 26 May: The Indian Air Force begins air strikes.
• 1999, 13 June: Indian troops recapture Tololing.
• 1999, 4 July: Tiger Hill is retaken; Sharif meets Clinton in Washington.
• 1999, 26 July: India declares the operation complete.
• 1999, 12 October: Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan in a coup.

Why it matters

The Kargil War was the first fighting between India and Pakistan as declared nuclear powers. It ended a brief thaw in relations, contributed to a change of government in Pakistan and remains a lasting reference point in the history of the Kashmir dispute, alongside earlier conflicts such as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.