Kargil Vijay Diwas 2020: Here are 10 highlights of war between India and Pakistan

Karil Vijay Diwas is celebrated in India on July 26 every year. The day commemorates the victory of India in the Kargil War and honors the Kargil War’s Heroes.

In 1999, the Pakistani army crossed the Line of Control in Kargil and tried to capture India’s land. The Kargil war was fought for more than 3 months and ended on 26 July and both the countries lost their many soldiers. The war ended with India regaining control of all the previously held territory, hence re-establishing the status quo antebellum.

The armed conflict between India and Pakistan in Kargil and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC) was taking place just months after Vajpayee and Sharif signed the Lahore Declaration in February 1999. The February conference was aimed at deescalating the tensions that had existed since May 1998 over the Kashmir issue, but the issue further flared up after with the Kargil war.

Kargil Vijay Diwas: Everything you need to know about India Pakistan war

Here are the 10 highlights of the Kargil War:

1. In the year 1999, the Kargil war was fought between India and Pakistan in Kargil, Ladakh which was earlier known as the Baltistan district and was separated by the Line Of Control after the first Kashmir war.
2. Before the Kargil war, India and Pakistan had fought a war in 1971 which had led to the formation of Bangladesh as a separate country.
3. The ruling party at the time of the Kargil War was that of NDA which was led by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
4. ‘Operation Vijay’ was launched by the Indians to clear the Kargil sector of infiltration by Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
5. The war of Kargil took place even after the Shimla Agreement was signed between the two countries that stated that no armed conflict shall take place on the said boundary.
6. The major part of the Kargil war was the Indian Air Force’s ‘Safed Sagar’ that used air power at the height of 32,000 feet for the first time. All actions including identifying Pakistani troops and Mujahideens were performed greatly by the pilots and engineers despite only one week of training.
7. ‘Operation Vijay’ was declared successful on 26th July, 18 years ago when India won a determined victory. While the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared the operation successful on July 14 and officially declared closed on July 26, 1999.
8. India lost more than 500 soldiers in the war while reports from Pakistan claimed that more than 3000 of their soldiers, mujahideen’s and infiltrates died.
9. Kargil war is one of the most recent and infamous examples of high-altitude warfare which was considered more dangerous due to the rough terrain and natural habitat.
10. Kargil war had been the one where a war was fought between two nuclear states and also the first war between two countries was widely covered by the media.