In 1999, less than one year after both countries tested nuclear weapons,
India and Pakistan found themselves locked in another armed conflict.
In spite of a ray of hope for peace in February 1999, when the Indian
Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, visited Pakistan and signed the Lahore
declaration, by April 1999, the two countries were effectively at war.
From the prospect of improved relations and a chance for a peaceful
resolution of differences, within one month the subcontinent was plunged
into another war.
In a brilliant tactical plan, Pakistan launched Operation Badr which saw
a brigade sized force of Pakistan Army troops and Islamist militants
infiltrate into Indian controlled territory. Supported by Pakistani
artillery and well provided with small arms, mortars, and anti-aircraft
weapons, these infiltrators were able to entrench along ridgelines with
commanding positions over Indian lines of supply and communications.
Once realizing the seriousness of the situation, the Indian government
ordered its armed forces into a ponderous, but ultimately successful
effort to evict the invaders. Facing treacherous terrain, and a
well-supplied and entrenched enemy, the Indian Army troops supported by
artillery and air force clawed their way up mountain heights to capture
fortified enemy positions.
Kargil 1999 is the first ever military history of this conflict in the
English language. It examines the political and strategic situation in
the run-up to the conflict, the precarious position of the Indian
government, and the disconnect between the Pakistani civilian government
and its armed forces. Moreover, it provides a detailed review of the
state of the Indian and Pakistani armed forces as of 1998-1999, with
particular attention to their organization, orders of battle, their air
forces and air defense networks. Because the Kargil War of 1999 was the
first conflict during which both India and Pakistan were in possession
of nuclear weapons, this account provides a detailed review of their
related potentials - including stocks of fissile materials, and delivery
systems (manned aircraft and the burgeoning indigenous ballistic missile
programs of increasing sophistication).
Finally, Kargil 1999 provides a detailed account of ground combat,
which culminated in the Indian infantry storming the heights occupied by
the Pakistani infantry, while supported by artillery and air force.
Illustrated by more than 100 photographs, maps, and authentic colour
artworks, Kargil 1999 offers a military perspective of the first
confrontation of the two declared nuclear powers of South Asia - a
conflict that tested their political, military, diplomatic, and nuclear
resolve.
