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Initial reports of infiltration into the Batalik sector in 1999 reached then Army Chief General VP Malik around May 15-16. He was on an official trip abroad. After his return on the 20th, he visited Udhampur and Srinagar and got a detailed briefing from the commanders there. A visit to Kargil wasn’t possible due to bad weather.
The infiltrators were holding ground, supported by artillery fire. A few days later, it became clear we were up against the regular Pakistani Army, not jihadis, Gen. Malik told Bharat Shakti Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale. The conversation is part of our special series on the 25th anniversary of the Kargil war.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) took place in New Delhi on May 23. Gen Malik briefed the gathering, saying the infiltrators were not jihadis but Pakistani Army regulars. He sought a synergised approach, involving the other two Services. Then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee gave the go-ahead.
We were ready for offensive action (for which the Bareilly-headquartered 6 Mountain Division could have been deployed) had the CCS okayed the plan, said Gen. Malik. But the forces were given clear instructions from the political top-brass: do not cross the Line of Control (LoC).
Intelligence failure led to the intrusions which inflicted huge casualties on Indian troops initially. But as the war progressed, the tide turned. Indian troops used artillery so effectively at those high altitudes that the enemy had a tough time.
We couldn’t go across the LoC but our artillery shells did, said Gen. Malik, recalling how those heavy guns were carried uphill in three pieces and assembled there.
Overall, there was a shortage of weapons but the government was very supportive. “I had daily meetings with the PM and then NSA Brajesh Mishra.”
Gen. Malik also talked about lessons from the war. The first: “Never be unprepared for a war-like situation. Remain alert, train and be prepared”. Intelligence gathering, both technical and human intelligence, is an area that needs to be continuously worked on, he said. “Galwan took us by surprise, even in Pulwama we were surprised.”
Gen. Malik said the spontaneous outpouring of solidarity from the entire country stood the forces in good stead. We had the whole country behind us while the Pakistani Army didn’t get support from their people, he said.
He had effusive praise for the young soldiers and officers who displayed remarkable courage on the battlefield. “The gun is important but the man behind the gun is the key to success.”
Author, thought leader and one of South Asia's leading strategic analysts, Nitin A. Gokhale has forty years of rich and varied experience behind him as a conflict reporter, Editor, author and now a media entrepreneur who owns and curates two important digital platforms, BharatShakti.in and StratNewsGlobal.com focusing on national security, strategic affairs and foreign policy matters.
At the beginning of his long and distinguished career, Gokhale has lived and reported from India’s North-east for 23 years, writing and analysing various insurgencies in the region, been on the ground at Kargil in the summer of 1999 during the India-Pakistan war, and also brought live reports from Sri Lanka’s Eelam War IV between 2006-2009.
Author of over a dozen books on wars, insurgencies and conflicts, Gokhale relocated to Delhi in 2006, was Security and Strategic Affairs Editor at NDTV, a leading Indian broadcaster for nine years, before launching in 2015 his own digital properties.
An alumni of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii, Gokhale now writes, lectures and analyses security and strategic matters in Indo-Pacific and travels regularly to US, Europe, South and South-East Asia to speak at various international seminars and conferences.
Gokhale also teaches at India’s Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), the three war colleges, India's National Defence College, College of Defence Management and the intelligence schools of both the R&AW and Intelligence Bureau.
He tweets at @nitingokhale
