Pakistan's historic admission: Army chief General Asim Munir admits active role for first time in 1999 Kargil War against India

Speaking at an event to commemorate Defence Day, Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir said several soldiers died in the 1999 Kargil War against India. This is the first time that Pakistan acknowledged active role in the war in a surprising departure from its elusive stance. 

“The Pakistani community is a community of braves which understands the importance of freedom and how to pay for it,” Munir said, adding “Be it 1948, 1965, 1971, or the Kargil war of 1999, thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country and Islam.” 

General Munir made the comment while honouring Pakistani soldiers, who died in various conflicts with India, including the Kargil War, a topic carefully avoided in official statements for over two decades. 

Previously, Islamabad had denied direct military participation, describing the infiltrators as “Kashmiri freedom fighters” or “mujahideen” and claiming that Pakistan forces were only “actively patrolling” while “tribal leaders” occupied the heights during the war, which took place 25 years ago.

In March 1999, four-star General of the Pakistan Army Pervez Musharraf ordered the secret infiltration of forces into the Kargil district in Ladakh. A full-scale war erupted after New Delhi discovered the infiltration much later in May 1999. 

By that time, the Vajpayee government was reduced to a caretaker government after losing a confidence motion in Lok Sabha by a single vote on April 17. 

The Indian Army launched Operation Vijay in May 1999 with the support of the Air Force and was able to reclaim the heights of Kargil by July 26, 1999. Despite the Pakistani occupants placed at strategic advantages on the high ground and in the unforgiving conditions of the Himalayas, the Indian forces were victorious. However, India paid a heavy price losing more than 500 soldiers at the line of duty and more than 1,300 were wounded. 

India has consistently asserted that the conflict was a direct act of aggression by the Pakistani military. The Pakistani army’s intrusion into Kargil with terrorists as a cover became evident from the intercepted conversation between Gen Musharraf (while visiting Beijing) and his Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Mohammed Aziz in Rawalpindi on May 26 and May 29.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has always insisted that Musharraf kept him in the dark about his plans. In a 2018 interview, Sharif revealed that Vajpayee told him that “he had been stabbed in the back with the Kargil misadventure because it came soon after the Lahore Declaration.” 

The Pakistani Army had refused to accept the bodies of its soldiers killed in Kargil. According to reports, the Indian Army buried several bodies of Pakistani soldiers in the Kargil sector after the war.