India's Victory over Pakistan in Kargil

About Kargil:

Located at an elevation of 8,780 ft (2676 meters) above Sea Level, Kargil is the 2nd largest town in the Kargil district of Ladakh in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The military outposts on the surrounding mountains are as high as 5,485 meters (18,000 ft) above sea level. Most of the terrain surrounding Kargil was unoccupied due to tough weather conditions. Kargil is just 173 km (107 mi) from the Pakistani-controlled town of Skardu, which was capable of providing military support to the Pakistani Army.

Pakistani Infiltration:  

Indian Army detected Pakistani forces presence atop of the Kargil ridges on May 8, 1999. Pakistan kept denying the presence of its army and insisted that the infiltration was purely led by Mujahideens (Terrorists trained and supported by Pakistan). It all started in January 1999 when Pakistan sent 200 specially trained commandos to capture Kargil Peaks. In March 1999, their forces reached on Kargil Peaks after noticing that the peaks were all vacant and that there was no presence of Indian troops. Till May 1999, Pakistanis had captured many peaks that were left vacant by the Indian Army. India was caught unaware. Indian Intelligence agencies gathered vital information by intercepting radio conversations and figured out that Pakistani Army had infiltrated in Indian areas. Pakistan kept denying its military presence.

India's Response:

Indian Army sent 5 Indian Soldiers to patrol the peaks, they were captured by Pakistani military who outnumbered them and were based at strategically located peaks. The soldiers were captured and tortured to death.

India moved some troops from Kashmir Valley to Kargil and on May 26, the Indian Air Force launched air strikes against the Pakistani intruders. Indian Army released documents recovered from three Pakistani soldiers indicating Pakistan’s involvement and in the first week of June India launched a major offensive in Kargil quickly capturing two key positions in the Batalic sector. India also released intercepts of conversation between Pakistani Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, while on a visit to China and Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Aziz Khan in Rawalpindi, as proof of Pakistani Army’s involvement. Indian offensive went on and India started recapturing many areas from Pakistani army - militants combine. On June 29, India captured two vital posts near Tiger Hill and on July 4, India recaptured Tiger Hill after an 11 Hr battle with Pakistani intruders and Pakistani terrorists. US. President asked Nawaz Sharif to vacate Indian territories or face international isolation. After losing all key peaks to India and being on the verge of defeat, Pakistani Army and Military started withdrawing from the remaining peaks so as to save themselves from the humiliation of defeat.

On July 11 India re-captured all the positions and on July 14, the Indian Prime Minister declared the operation as a success. The operation was termed as Operation Vijay.

Read about Kargil War Heroes

After losing all wars to India, Pakistan intensified its proxy war against India by training suicide bombers and terrorists to kill innocent people in India and Kashmir. Post Pakistani defeat in Kargil, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was thrown out after a military coup by Army General Parvez Musharraf.