Curated by Kartik Bommakanti
The Kargil conflict fought between India and Pakistan was a watershed moment not just in the subcontinent’s history; its consequences extend beyond the region. The Kargil War occurred against the backdrop of two key events—the reciprocal nuclear tests of 1998 by New Delhi and Islamabad and the Lahore Summit of February 1999. Pakistan was the aggressor state and its goal was to shift the local geographic balance in its favour and catalyse third-party intervention in a quest to freeze its ill-begotten military gains. It was the second instance in history—the first being the Ussuri River military clash between the erstwhile Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—since two nuclear-armed states fought a conventional war in inhospitable terrain and inclement weather with the possibility of escalation that could have intensified the magnitude and scale of the military campaign waged by the two warring states. Nuclear coercion was combined with conventional military escalation and both played their part in Pakistan’s initial attack and India’s response. The conflict also drew intense diplomatic involvement by third parties.
This set of articles is commemorative as well as an earnest engagement and evaluation of the role of diplomacy, military operations, the media, intelligence, the impact of nuclear weapons and how key great powers such as the United States (US) and PRC played in the war precipitated by Pakistan’s ill- conceived aggression against India. These articles also capture the complex lessons relevant to the military, the role of nuclear weapons and third-party states, strategic assessments, diplomacy, intelligence reforms and public relations as well as the legacy of the conflict on the subcontinent and beyond.
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