Editorial: Admission of guilt

The admission by Pakistan on Kargil offers diplomatic leverage for India to expose its neighbour’s duplicity

Kargil was such an embarrassing misadventure for Pakistan that its leaders were ashamed of acknowledging their country’s role in the conflict. During the war in the Himalayan peaks, Islamabad kept denying its military presence even when its deception was visible to the entire world and even refused to take back the bodies of its soldiers who died in combat. It was Indian soldiers who, in an extraordinary gesture, gave a dignified burial to the dead Pakistani soldiers as per Islamic rituals. Now, over a quarter century later, Pakistan has, for the first time, acknowledged in public its military role in the war. Speaking at an event to commemorate Defence Day, Army Chief General Asim Munir spoke about the sacrifices made by the soldiers for the ‘country and Islam’ in various conflicts with India, including Kargil. The statement marks a significant departure from Pakistan’s long-standing official narrative that portrayed the conflict as mainly carried out by Kashmiri militants and what they call ‘mujahideen’. The general’s remarks directly acknowledged the deaths of Pakistani soldiers in Kargil, a confrontation in which Pakistani forces occupied strategic positions in Kashmir, leading to a fierce military response from India. The operation resulted in a humiliating defeat for Pakistan, with then United States President Bill Clinton forcing then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to order the withdrawal of the army troops from the Kargil sector. In May this year, Nawaz Sharif too made a candid admission that Pakistan violated the 1999 Lahore Declaration — a historic peace initiative that he and then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had championed.

Vajpayee travelled to Lahore and signed the agreement on February 21, 1999, aimed at fostering peace and stability in the bilateral relations. It served as a comprehensive framework aimed at addressing long-standing issues between the two countries. However, this hope proved short-lived. Shortly after the declaration, Pakistani forces, along with militants, infiltrated the Line of Control (LoC), leading to the Kargil War. This violation not only undermined the trust between the two nations but also set back any progress towards lasting peace in the region. After more than two months of brutal war, the Indian forces reclaimed the crucial peaks and Pakistan faced another humiliating defeat. The Kargil conflict, masterminded by then army chief Pervez Musharraf, resulted in significant military casualties and heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, both of which were nuclear-armed by that time. Even after winning the war, Indian forces did not cross the LoC in tune with its commitment to international laws. Since the 2019 Pulwama attack, diplomatic ties remain frozen, with both nations downgrading their missions. The admission by Sharif and now the army chief must be seen as a validation of India’s longstanding position. It offers a unique diplomatic leverage for India to expose Pakistan’s duplicity.

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