Kargil War

Kargil War was a war between Indian and Pakistani forces in Kargil in 1999. Pakistani Kashmiris sent its troops inside the disputed territory of Kashmir to occupy military posts vacated in the winter. India then sent its army to fight the intruders from Pakistan-administered Kashmir and retake Indian-held Kargil.

After two months of fighting, the Indian Army won the war after Pakistani forces were pushed back to their original positions behind the LoC. The whole world also supported India in this war as Pakistan was criticised. This was the fourth war between the two neighbours. The war was very important because both India and Pakistan had nuclear weapons. The USA and other countries played an important role in the diplomacy during the war. After the war ended, a military coup took place in Pakistan.

The war is one of the most recent examples of high altitude warfare in mountainous terrain, which posed significant logistical problems for the combating sides. This was only the second direct ground war between any two countries after they had developed nuclear weapons, after the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969; it is also the most recent.The conflict led to heightened tension between the two nations and increased defence spending by India. In Pakistan, the aftermath caused instability of the government and the economy, and, on October 12, 1999, a coup d'etat by the military placed army chief Pervez Musharraf in power.