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Both India and
Pakistan Sign the Lahore Declaration
February 1999 |
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- In an attempt to defuse the situation, both
countries signed the Lahore Declaration in February 1999, promising
to provide a peaceful and bilateral solution to the Kashmir
conflict.
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Pakistani Military Advances
Onto Indian Military Posts Abandoned for the Winter Months
February 1999 |
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- During February 1999, the Pakistan Army began to
re-occupy the posts it had abandoned on its side of the LOC in the
Kargil region, but also sent forces to occupy some posts on the
Indian side of the LOC.
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India Detects 500 Mile Pakistani Seizure of Kashmiri Land
Second Week of May 1999 |
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- Initially, these incursions were not detected for a
number of reasons: Indian patrols were not sent into some of the
areas infiltrated by the Pakistani forces and heavy artillery fire
by Pakistan in some areas provided cover for the infiltrators.
- But by the second week of May, the ambushing of an
Indian patrol team led by Capt Saurabh Kalia, acting on a tip-off by
a local shepherd in the Batalik sector, led to the exposure of the
infiltration.
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- Initially with little knowledge of the nature or
extent of the encroachment, the Indian troops in the area assumed
that the infiltrators were jihadis and claimed that they would evict
them within a few days.
- Subsequent discovery of infiltration elsewhere
along the LoC, and the difference in tactics employed by the
infiltrators, caused the Indian army to realize that the entire plan
of attack was on a much bigger scale.
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India Mobilizes 200,000 Troops Into Region
May 1999 |
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- The Government of India responded with Operation
Vijay, a mobilisation of 200,000 Indian troops.
- However, because of the nature of the terrain,
division and corps operations could not be mounted; the scale of the
subsequent fighting was mostly at the regimental or battalion level.
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- In effect, two divisions of the Indian
Army,numbering 20,000, plus several thousand from the Paramilitary
forces of India and the air force were deployed in the conflict
zone.
- The total number of Indian soldiers that were
involved in the military operation on the Kargil-Drass sector was
thus close to 30,000.
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Pakistani Military Covertly
Plans Potential Nuclear Strike Against India
July 1999 |
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- As Pakistan found itself struggling, the army had
covertly planned a nuclear strike on India...
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President Clinton Calls
Emergency Summit Between Pakistan and India
July 1999 |
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- As Pakistan found itself struggling, the army had
covertly planned a nuclear strike on India, the news of which
alarmed U.S. President Bill Clinton, resulting in a stern warning to
Nawaz Sharif.
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- Following the Washington accord on July 4, where
Sharif agreed to withdraw Pakistani troops, most of the fighting
came to a gradual halt...
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