Kargil Vijay Diwas: Pakistan hasn’t learnt anything from the past, says PM Modi
The PM’s comments came during his address at a ceremonial function held at the Kargil war memorial to mark the 25th anniversary of the war.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday delivered a strong warning to Pakistan, saying that the Indian Army will crush terror emanating from that country with full force while reminding it of its past defeats and failures.
“I speak from where the patrons of terrorism (across the de-factor border) can hear me loud and clear,” he said after paying homage to the soldiers killed in the Kargil war that was fought along a 170-km mountain frontier in the summer of 1999.
“And I want to tell them that their sinister plans will never succeed. Past attempts made by Pakistan have failed. But it has not learnt anything from history. It is trying to stay relevant through terrorism and proxy war.”
Relations between India and Pakistan have been at an all-time low as the two sides have not had any formal and sustained dialogue since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The PM’s comments came during his address at a ceremonial function held at the Kargil war memorial to mark the 25th anniversary of the war that began after the Pakistan army captured strategic heights on the Indian side of LoC a few months after the signing of the Lahore peace declaration in February.
The remarks are also significant as they come against the backdrop of a series of terror attacks, backed by Pakistan, in which several soldiers have been killed in the Jammu region. These strikes have raised questions over key operational and intelligence challenges facing the army south of the Pir Panjal range.
India wanted peace but Pakistan showed its “untrustworthy face again,” the PM said. “In Kargil, not only did we win the war, but also set a wonderful example of truth, restraint and strength.”
Pakistani intruders exploited gaps in Indian defences and sneaked across LoC to occupy several commanding heights, with some of them offering a sweeping view of the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway, a critical supply line. Taking back the peaks from Pakistan army cost the lives 527 Indian soldiers. There is no definitive account of Pakistan army casualties, but different estimates peg the number between a few hundred and a few thousand.
“According to our intelligence estimates, their (Pakistani) army suffered over 737 casualties, primarily due to our artillery fire,” says a plaque placed in front of a Bofors gun, quoting then army chief General VP Malik (retd).
“Kargil Vijay Diwas tells us that days, months, years and ages may pass, but sacrifices made by our soldiers for the nation are immortal,” the PM said. “Be it Ladakh or Jammu and Kashmir, India will overcome every challenge in the way of development.”
The lessons learnt from the war and the events that led to it resulted in the overhaul of India’s intelligence set-up, far-reaching military reforms, modernisation of the armed forces and vastly improved border management.