Army Chief at war memorial pays homage to martyrs

Drass:  Army Chief General Bikram Singh paid tribute to the martyrs of the Kargil war in a ceremony at the war memorial in Drass. He will also interact with the families of the martyred soldiers during the day.

Today 15 years later, the Army claims the defences along the Line of Control are much stronger and robust. The tunnel – a linear defence system – has come up after the Kargil conflict in various points along the Line of Control. It can be occupied for an offensive role at a short notice, allows the troops access to ammunition/ration and rest for a sustained period of time if the need arises.

The armed conflict took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along LOC. The conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay (Victory).  

The cause of the war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the LOC, which serves as the de facto border between the two states. During the initial stages of the war, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents.

The Indian Army later on supported by the Indian Air Force recaptured a majority of the positions. With international diplomatic opposition, the Pakistani forces withdrew from the remaining Indian positions.

The conflict is significant because of the logistic problems it posed at high altitude in mountainous terrain. To date, it is also the only instance of direct, conventional warfare between nuclear states.

The town of Kargil is located 205 km from Srinagar. It is a sparsely populated region with diverse linguistic, ethnic and religious groups, living in isolated valleys separated by some of the world’s highest mountains.

Pakistan targeted Kargil because the terrain was conducive to the pre-emptive seizure of several unoccupied military positions. With tactically vital features and well-prepared defensive posts atop the peaks, a defender on the high ground would enjoy advantages akin to a fortress. Any attack to dislodge a defender from high ground in mountain warfare requires a far higher ratio of attackers to defenders, and the difficulties would be exacerbated by the high altitude and freezing temperatures.

Kargil is just 173 km from the Pakistani-controlled town of Skardu, which was capable of providing logistical and artillery support to Pakistani combatants.