India salutes its martyrs who recaptured the icy heights from the Pakistan army    In Hindi
Indian mood after Kargil war Scenes from the Kargil war Heroes of the Kargil war
16 Aug 1999
16 Aug 1999
26 July 1999
26 July 1999
19 July 1999
19 July 1999
5 July 1999
5 July 1999

PM is accompanied by Defence Minister and the chiefs of the three services to pay homage to the martyrs of Kargil war on its 10th anniversary.
Param Vir Chakra
UPA's attitude is shameful. Their politicians should be sent to Kargil to see how tough it is to protect our borders at those heights. It's a pity to have a PM who is Sonia's puppet.

A national highway (NH1) connects Srinagar to Leh passing through Kargil. The infiltration happened along this road.

Pakistani infiltrators occupied about 130-200 sq kms of Indian territory.

Operation Vijay saw the mobilisation of some 30,000 troops.

Operation Safed Sagar was the Indian Air Force's effort to help the ground forces in combat.

; The Pakistani infiltrators had small arms, grenade launchers, mortars, artillery and anti-aircraft guns.

The recapturing of the hills overlooking NH1 and win at Tololing tilted the war in India's favour.

The Howitzer guns, till now infamous in India due to the Bofors scandal, helped the Indian Army in a big way.

The Indian Air Force used laser-aided bombs to attack well-protected hide-outs of infiltrators.

Some combats were carried out in freezing night temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius.

Pakistan wanted to use nuclear weapons but backed out after Bill Clinton's intervention.

Pakistan agreed to pull out following the Clinton-Sharif meeting on July 4. However, jihadi groups continued the fighting.

The combat stopped on July 26, which was then marked as Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Though denying it at first, Pakistan confirmed its role in the war by giving gallantry awards to its soldiers.


Four Indian soldiers received the Param Vir Chakra, while two Pakistanis received Nishan-e-Haider, the highest gallantry awards in the two nations.

According to Nawaz Sharif, more than 4,000 Pakistani soldiers died in the war. India put its figures at less than 550.

He is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, a Delhi-based thinktank, and author.