What was the purpose behind the Kargil invasion by Pakistan? Though the Indian media had much tom-tomed the achievement behind the Kargil war, they hadn't delineated the purpose of the war. Why was there an incursion? What was the purpose of the Pakistani commandos who moved into Indian territory?
It emerges from Lt. General Shahid Aziz's (he worked for the Inter-service Intelligence [ISI] then) blog that the Kargil war had a sinister plot behind it which would have resulted in India losing a huge chunk of Kashmir and Siachen. As the General writes on his blog:
"Our clearly expressed intent was to cut the supply line to Siachen and force the Indians to pull out. This was not a small result we sought and cannot be classified as a tactical manoeuvre, where no one other than the local commander needed to be aware. General Musharraf himself writes, "800 sq kms of area was captured.... and it created strategic effects"."Ergo, that was the purpose: to cut off supply lines to Siachen so that India would lose this vital link to this area, an integral part of its territory. Capturing Indian outposts in Siachen would have been child's play once the supply lines were cut. Pakistan would then have gifted this territory to China, it's friend. The General also states that General Musharraf clearly knew the intention of this military adventure and supported it, nay, even engendered it. I don't think he would have thought of the international ramifications and of India's stinging response.
Result: countless innocent lives were sacrificed on both sides of the border. All for nothing, it might seem.
John is @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. He blogs here. His Youtube Channel Page. His novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard.
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