1999 Kargil War

• The war took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir, which was part of the Ladakh district of Baltistan before the partition of India in 1947 and was divided after the First Kashmir War (1947-1948) by the LOC (Line of Control). The fighting started in the early winter of 1999, when the Pakistan Army, along with the Mujahideen, reoccupied the Kargil, Drass, and Batalik forward positions and strategic peaks. The name given to Pakistan's infiltration was "Operation Al-Badar"
• The Indian Army was able to create the points of incursion based on information from local shepherds and deployed four divisions to take back the strategic peaks to defend its main supply line in Kashmir. Operation Vijay was the name of India's operation to recapture their territories. The Pakistani soldiers had put themselves at higher altitudes, giving them an advantage in battle, as they were able to fire at advancing Indian troops. 
• They fought under a temperature of minus 10 degrees for about 40-60 days. The Indian Army had captured strategic peaks like Tiger Hill and Tololing until July 4, 1999. The war saw the use of FH-77B artillery guns by Bofors. Though it is said that the U.S. denied GPS assistance to India, Israel supported India with arms and equipment and supplied UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Drones).
• The Indian Air Force also used MiG-27 and MiG-29 against Pakistani troops. Several Pakistani targets were targeted with R-77 missiles with the aid of the MiG-29. The IAF MiG-21s and Mirage 2000 were widely used in Operation Safed Sagar.

• The international community has criticized Pakistan for allowing its paramilitary forces and rebels to cross the Line of Control (LOC). Pakistan has also attempted to internationalize the Kashmir issue by connecting the Kargil crisis to the broader Kashmir dispute, but on the world stage, such diplomatic position has found only few supporters. Pakistan was described as the aggressor and denounced by the US and the West, including the G8 nations.
• India was also supported by the other G8 nations and condemned the Pakistani breach of the LoC. China, Pakistan's longtime ally, did not interfere in Pakistan's favor, insisting on a pullout of LoC forces and peacefully resolving border issues. The ASEAN Regional Forum also backed India's stance on the inviolability of the LOC.
• Pakistan asked the US to interfere, but then-President Bill Clinton refused to do so. PM Nawaz Sharif managed to pull back the remaining soldiers from Indian territory in the face of increasing foreign pressure. 

• In his post-war autobiography, Clinton claimed that "Sharif's steps were perplexing" because the Indian prime minister had traveled to Lahore to facilitate bilateral talks aimed at solving the Kashmir issue and "by crossing the Line of Control, Pakistan had ruined the bilateral talks." He congratulated Indian restraint for not crossing the LoC and escalating the conflict into an all-out war.
• During the Kargil conflict, one of the key fears of the international community was that both neighbours had access to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that it could have contributed to nuclear war if the war escalated. In 1998, both countries had their nuclear capabilities tested. In 1974, India performed its first test, while the 1998 test was the first-ever nuclear test in Pakistan. A statement was made by the Pakistani foreign secretary warning that an escalation of the restricted conflict could lead Pakistan to use "any weapon" in its arsenal. Many such vague remarks by officials from both countries have been seen as an imminent nuclear crisis.
• When the US received intelligence that Pakistani nuclear warheads were being transported to the border, the essence of the India-Pakistan dispute took on a more sinister proportion. Bill Clinton attempted to dissuade Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister, from nuclear brinkmanship and even threatened Pakistan with dire consequences. Sharif directed the Pakistani army to vacate the Kargil heights, sensing a worsening military situation, political isolation and the threats of greater conventional and nuclear war.
• Furthermore, there was reported use of chemical and even biological weapons in the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Pakistan has accused India of using chemical weapons against Kashmiri fighters and explosive weapons such as napalm. India, on the other hand, revealed, among other guns, a cache of gas masks as evidence that Pakistan may have been prepared to use non-conventional weapons. 

• The success of India in the Kargil war was due to its successful mixture of diplomacy and the use of force. India was under sanctions in the aftermath of the 1998 nuclear tests. Resolution 1172 of the United Nations Security Council condemned its actions, and when 1999 came around, multilateral and bilateral sanctions had India on the back foot. It was in this context that India chose not to cross the line of control (LoC). The support of the international community was seen as a potential "major force multiplier" as it needed international opinion to be in its favour, much like the support of the domestic audience.
• Kargil was India's first war on TV. In favour of Indian action, this rallied public opinion. During the war, donations of blood to the Indian Red Cross Society in New Delhi increased. Also, donations to the welfare funds of soldiers rose exponentially. Awareness and solidarity were generated by images of wounded soldiers, coffins, and bereaved families. In addition, for the Indian armed forces, the use of the media was seen as a booster.
• By the end of June, if it did not withdraw to its side of the LoC, the U.S. government, the European Union, and the G-8 all threatened sanctions on Pakistan. There was international pressure building up. In the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), even Pakistan's traditional allies chose to water down its resolutions against India.

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