25th Kargil Vijay Diwas, Reason for War and Its Significance

The nation observes 26 July as Kargil Vijay Diwas to honour the sacrifice of the brave heart of the Indian Army and the victory of the Indian Armed forces over Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil Conflict.

On the 25th anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Drass sector in the Union Territory of  Ladakh to pay homage to the martyrs at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass.

About the  Kargil War  

• The Kargil war was fought between the Indian forces and Pakistani forces between May 8, 1999, and July 26, 1999.
• At that time, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power in India, and Nawaz Shariff was the prime minister of Pakistan.
• The Pakistani armed personnel disguised as mujahideen crossed the Line of Control in the winter of 1999 and occupied the vacant India post on the strategic heights. During the winter season, the Indian forces used to abandon their posts located in high mountainous regions.
• The main aim of the Pakistani force was to internationalise the Kashmir issue and force India to negotiate on the Siachen glacier. It was also an attempt to capture strategic heights so that the strategically important NH 1A in Kargil's Drass and Batalik Sectors of Ladakh could come within their firing range and halt all military and civil movements on the road.
• The NH1A is crucial for the Indian Army as it joins Ladakh with Srinagar and is a vital route through which it supplies food and arms to its base in the Siachen glacier. The Siachen Glacier is under the control of the Indian Army and is the world's highest battlefield. By cutting the supply route, the Pakistani Army wanted India to force a negotiation on Siachen.

Operation Vijay 

• To evict the Pakistani intruders from the mountain heights, the Indian Army launched Operation Vijay.
•  Forces were mobilised, and the Indian Air Force was also used to evict the Pakistani soldiers disguised as Mujahideen from the mountain heights.
• The Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar to bombard the posts occupied by the Pakistani intruders in these mountainous areas. It was the first time since the 1971 war with Pakistan that the Indian Air Force was deployed in Jammu and Kashmir(At that time, Kargil was in the state of Jammu and Kashmir )
• The Indian forces suffered heavy casualties as the Pakistani forces were at higher altitudes, which made it easy for them to shoot advancing Indian soldiers.

Victory 

• The Indian armed forces were finally able to defeat and evict the Pakistani intruders from the Indian side of the Line of Control and formally claimed victory on 26 July 1999.
• Since then, 26 July has been observed every year with immense pride across the country.
• A total of 527 Indian Bravehearts sacrificed thier lives during the war, while an estimated 700 Pakistani soldiers also lost thier lives during the war.

 Kargil Review Committee 

• The Government of India set up the Kargil Review Committee in 1999 under the chairmanship of K. Subramanyam.
• The committee was mandated to review the events leading to the Pakistan aggression in Kargil and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future.
• It suggested reducing the average age of the soldiers in the Armed Forces.