Pakistan Army Chief acknowledges active role of soldiers in 1999 Kargil war against India

Islamabad: In a rare public acknowledgement by a serving Pakistani army chief, General Asim Munir has mentioned the involvement of Pakistan army in the Kargil war as he listed the 1999 conflict with India among the major wars fought with the eastern neighbour.

Munir, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was speaking during the Defence and Martyrs Day event at Rawalpindi on Friday.

The 1999 Kargil war ended with India recapturing the border posts occupied by Pakistani infiltrators. India celebrates the victory as Vijay Diwas on July 26.

In his speech, General Munir highlighted the role of the army in defending the motherland with the support of the people of Pakistan and also touched upon various conflicts with India, including the Kargil war.

“Indeed Pakistani nation is a courageous and bold nation, which understands best the importance of independence and how to protect it at any price. Whether the Pak-India wars of 1948, 1965, 1971 and Kargil or Siachen conflict, thousands of martyrs gave sacrifices for the security and honour of the country,” Munir said.

Pakistan had initially distanced itself from the conflict by saying that only private “freedom fighters” were involved in it. However, soon the scale of fighting revealed that the armies of two countries were fighting against each other.

The 2006 book In The Line Of Fire written by then Pervez Musharraf, who was the army chief during the Kargil war, clearly acknowledged the Pakistan Army's role.

Musharraf had sent in the Northern Light Infantry men in the Kargil theatre of war. Pakistan awarded Captain Karnal Sher Khan of 27th Battalion, Sind Regiment and Havaldar Lalak Jan of Northern Light Infantry with the highest gallantry award called Nishan-e-Haider after the Kargil war was over.

Munir, in his address, also said the country would “not allow political differences to turn into hatred.”

He asserted that the strong relations between the army and the public would act as the foundation to defeat any enemy trying to create rifts between the two.

“The relation between the armed forces and the nation is of heart,” he said, adding that the nation always strengthened the army in all fields including, “rescue works in the events of natural disasters, foreign hostilities or war against terrorism.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif was also present at the ceremony, which was attended by the army’s top brass, senior military and governmental officials, and families of soldiers, among others.