Ten years ago, the fierce skirmish over Kargil, the strategically important piece of territory disputed between India and Pakistan came to an end. The war, which started as the Pakistan Army came close to cutting off key routes in Kashmir, quickly turned as India responded with unexpected force. The crisis between the two nuclear-armed nations brought on the spectre of the possible use of such weapons or of still further acceleration in the fighting to open-up an all-out war between the two neighbouring countries. Some say the US played up the nuclear threat to force Pakistan to bow down; others say the threat was real.
An urgent meeting between then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and then US President Bill Clinton brought an end to hostilities. Despite accounts to the contrary by senior Pakistan officials at the time, and some effort by the US to offer a semblance of face-saving, Pakistan’s arm was essentially twisted rather firmly by Clinton and his team. Even now many facts remain disputed including the precise exchanges that took place as Clinton and Sharif met one-to-one in what was a meeting that brought about final decision to back down. The confusion that existed within Pakistan over who was calling the shots on Kargil added to the entire controversy. Nawaz Sharif subsequently claimed he was not properly informed as to what was going on by then army chief General Pervez Musharraf. This was denied by the military. Some trace the animosity of the two men to each other to the days of the Kargil war and the failure to forge a common front during it. Recently, Nawaz Sharif has displayed newspaper cuttings which indicate Musharraf indeed knew the PM was intending to meet Clinton. The then army chief had in the past denied prior knowledge of the meeting and there had been insinuations that Sharif had ‘sold out’ the nation by giving in to US demands.
The war of course intensified for many months the tensions between India and Pakistan. Even today, ten years on from 1999, the Indian military – caught unawares by the early actions in the war – is said to remain wary of a repetition of similar action. But the events of those dramatic weeks taught us many things. One is that in the situation today, the issues of the nuclear weapons will always come up and involve the international community. This perhaps is also a reminder of the need to avoid situations that plunge our countries into peril and to work instead towards a situation that can ensure there are no Kargils to confront in the future. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=186495
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