Twenty-six years after India and Pakistan engaged in a limited conflict along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kargil Sector to evict Pakistani intruders, the volatile border witnessed a war-like situation in May this year when Pakistan launched drones and missiles at Indian sites during Operation Sindoor.Areas along the LoC in Ladakh were among the 36 places along the entire western border, the Army said, Pakistan had attempted to target.When bugles sound below the towering, rocky battlefields to mark the conflict’s 26th anniversary on July 26, the war machines and the men behind them would be looking at a vastly changed geostrategic environment in the northern sector along with a radical doctrinal shifts to deal with emerging threats.A series of customary events, such as a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kargil war memorial, ‘sainik sammelan’, honouring veterans and beating retreat, have been lined up to pay tributes to 534 soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the conflict from mid-May to July-end in 1999.In the early weeks of 1999, Pakistani troops transgressed the LoC and occupied heights dominating the Srinagar-Leh National Highway that had been vacated by the Indian Army as part of the winter posture due to heavy snow and inclement weather.This led to tedious and costly battles on the remote and icy heights along a 170-km stretch of the LoC in the sector, which is now overshadowed by the growing Chinese belligerence on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.The collusion between China and Pakistan is well established. While China had remained silent during the Kargil conflict, it had provided real-time intelligence and satellite imagery to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Besides intelligence and diplomatic support, defence experts caution that in any future India—Pakistan clash, China may use other means to support Pakistan.At the same time, terrorism in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region has not waned, with a spate of terror attacks on civilians as well as the Army. The killing of 26 persons, mostly tourists, at Pahalgam in April, which led to India launching precision strikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor is the latest example. Surgical strikes across the LoC were carried out in 2016 and air strikes were carried out in 2019 on Balakot, adjacent to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Considering terrorist attacks as an act of war is a major policy shift.Over the years since Kargil, there has been a massive increase of troops and hierarchical restructuring in Ladakh to counter not only Pakistan, but also China, with greater thrust on developing indigenous equipment for the military’s operational requirements and sustenance in difficult terrain.The Kargil Sector, which till 1999 was guarded by just a Brigade with three battalions and had wide gaps, is now secured by a division having three times the strength. After the violent stand-off with China along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in 2020, that sector has also seen massive induction of troops. Besides heavy weapons, a lot more equipment like drones, communication and surveillance gadgets have also come in. To complement this is the construction of a network of strategic roads and tunnels.While there has been considerable infrastructure development in Kashmir and Ladakh along with tourist influx and economic betterment over the past two decades, on the other side of the LoC that makes up the Gilgit-Baltistan region of POK, the internal situation has not improved. The area remains heavily militarised, with reports pointing at persistent political repression, economic neglect, and social unrest. Public protests have apparently grown more frequent over economic grievances, lack of autonomy and human rights abuses.
Kargil lessons: India confronts terror and collusion
