For the first time, Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, has acknowledged in public the Pakistani military’s active participation in the 1999 Kargil War against India, which is a momentous and unprecedented development.
General Munir made this historical declaration during a speech honoring Pakistan’s Defence Day, where he paid respect to the troops who lost their lives in several conflicts with India, including the Kargil conflict. His words represent an unexpected change in Pakistan’s long-standing account of its role in the conflict.
Referring to Pakistan’s battles with India, General Munir spoke at an event held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Friday, September 6 to commemorate Pakistan’s 59th Defence Day. “The Pakistani community is a community of braves which understands the importance of freedom and how to pay for it,” Munir said, adding “Be it 1948, 1965, 1971, or the Kargil war of 1999, thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country and Islam.”
He also added that the strong relations between the army and the public would act as the base to defeat any enemy trying to create conflicts between the two.“The relation between the armed forces and the nation is of heart,” he said, adding that the nation always strengthened the army in all fields including, “rescue works in the events of natural disasters, foreign hostilities or war against terrorism”.
REACTION OF INDIA TO HIS STATEMENT
PAKISTAN’S EARLIER STATEMENT ABOUT KARGIL WAR
There has long been enmity between India and Pakistan over the Kargil War, which occurred in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir (now Ladakh) between May and July of 1999.
Claiming that the fighters were “Kashmiri freedom fighters” or “mujahideen,” Pakistan had denied direct military involvement for more than 20 years. Pakistan forces were only “actively patrolling” the border while “tribal leaders” occupied the heights during the war, they said.
Pakistan even refused to cremate their soldiers. It was the Indian army who respectfully buried the soldiers.
It was in 2006 that President Pervez Musharraf, revealed in his memoir “In The Line Of Fire” that regular soldiers had fought in Kargil.
Conversely, in 2010, the Pakistani army formally recognized and identified the 453 troops and commanders who lost their lives during the 1999 battle. Their names, titles, and decorations were posted on the website’s “Shuhada’s Corner,” which honors the martyrs.
The bulk of those who lost their lives in Kargil were members of the Northern Light Infantry, a unit that the Pakistan Army converted to a regular regiment in 1999 due to its combat effectiveness.
WHO IS ASIM MUNIR?
He has been the Chief of Army Staff since November 29, 2022. He procured the position of quartermaster general at the GHQ before taking over as army chief. From June 17, 2019, to October 6, 2021, he oversaw the XXX Corps at Gujranwala. He was the 23rd Director-General of the ISI until June 16, 2019, when Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed took over.
He started his military career on 25 April 1986 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2014, he was elevated to the rank of major general and assumed command of the military forces stationed in Pakistan’s northern regions.
Moreover, Munir headed the Military Intelligence Department in 2016. After being appointed as DG ISI, Munir was provided with the rank of lieutenant general in September 2018.
In 2019, Munir was named the XXX Corps’ corps commander in Gujranwala. Lieutenant General Munir served as the Pakistan Army’s quartermaster general at GHQ from November 2022 to November 2021.
Lieutenant General Munir was named Chief of the Army Staff of the Pakistan Army in November 2022 after being elevated to the rank of four-star general.
He has been awarded with Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military), and Sword of Honour.
WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE KARGIL WAR?
Kargil is a town facing the Northern Areas beside the Line of Control, situated 205 km from Srinagar. Kargil experiences continental weather, just like other Himalayan regions. A lengthy, cold winter with frequently below-average temperatures (−48 °C) contrasts with cool summers and freezing nights.
REASONS FOR THE KARGIL WAR
The 1999 Kargil War, sometimes referred to as the Kargil conflict, began when Pakistani forces, led by General Pervez Musharraf, broke into strategic locations in the Kargil area of India on our area of the Line of Control (LoC). This occurred shortly after former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif signed the Lahore Declaration for peace and stability between the two countries.
India’s political climate had already changed by the time the infiltration was discovered. In April, the government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee was reduced to a caretaker administration after it failed a motion of confidence in the Lok Sabha by a single vote. Notwithstanding these obstacles, the Indian Air Force assisted the Indian Army on May 1999 and started Operation Vijay.
The goal of the operation was to take back the Kargil Heights, which were occupied by Pakistani forces stationed in high-ground fortifications.
THE VICTORY -VIJAY DIWAS
The Indian Army faced the enemy and the treacherous Himalayan terrain in the incredibly difficult Kargil War. Despite these difficulties, on July 26, 1999, Indian forces succeeded in regaining the land. This day is referred to as Vijay Diwas.
But India had to pay a heavy price for this victory: more than 1,300 soldiers were injured while doing their duties, and over 500 soldiers died.
Pakistan denied having a direct military role in the conflict, characterizing it as a fight being led by “Kashmiri freedom fighters.” But India has always insisted that the war was a predetermined act of aggression carried out by the Pakistani military.
In a 2018 interview, Sharif said that the Kargil mishap seemed like a “stab in the back” to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee because it happened so soon after the historic Lahore Declaration, a bilateral pact meant to defuse tensions between the two countries.
In addition to deteriorating ties between India and Pakistan, the Kargil War split the country’s leadership. As a direct result of the Kargil debacle, General Musharraf staged a military coup that overthrew Nawaz Sharif’s administration later in 1999.
Pakistan’s inability to acknowledge the remains of its soldiers who lost their lives in the Kargil War was one of the most contentious features of the fight. After the conflict, a number of Pakistani soldiers were interred by the Indian Army because their remains had not been claimed. This denial of acknowledging its own dead soldiers simply served to confirm the impression that Pakistan was not ready to accept its role in the conflict.
The war is also known in India as Action Vijay, which was the codename for the Indian military action in the area
After facing international diplomatic backlash, Pakistani forces withdrew from all remaining Indian posts along the LoC. The Indian Army, later reinforced by the Indian Air Force, reclaimed most of the positions on the Indian side of the LoC.
