Remembering the Kargil triumph

By Suman Kumar Kasturi

India is complacently celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Kargil Vijay Diwas today, marking the success of Operation Vijay. It evokes nostalgic memories for me, as I was an active participant in the operations as a young air warrior. The Kargil War raged for more than two months. On July 26, 1999, India efficaciously regained control of the high outposts that had been lost to Pakistani intruders. 

Regarding the Kargil War, Pakistan had made extensive preparations, including the construction of logistical supply routes. The conflict arose due to the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers into locations on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between India and Pakistan. It is worth noting that the Pakistani soldiers infiltrated disguised as Kashmiri militants; documents left behind by casualties are evidence of this fact.

In my view, the war was between two sides: Pakistan with a concrete plan and India facing an unanticipated contingency. Although India was not fully prepared for the situation, the Indian Army, supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured most of the intruded areas on the Indian side of the LoC. Eventually, under international diplomatic pressure, the Pakistani forces withdrew from the residual Indian positions along the LoC.

The Kargil War provides interesting points of observation, particularly in terms of territorial imperative, game theory, and the minimax approach. 

Territorial Imperative

The term territorial imperative is often used in the context of ‘total war.’ The Kargil War, which was fought for more than 60 days and resulted in India’s victory, can be considered a mini ‘total war.’ The territorial imperative refers to the need to claim and defend a territory, encompassing the use of space, weaponry, and strategies. The entire conflict exemplifies the territorial imperative. 

The initial situation in the Kargil War involved confronting Pakistani infiltrators occupying the sparsely populated region of Kargil, which is located in isolated valleys disjointed by some of the world’s highest mountains. To encounter this situation, the Indian Army’s top brass had to execute forward-thinking and numerous administrative and wartime strategies. There is no doubt that the Indian Armed Forces effectively took up the challenge and defended our territories. 

Game Theory

Game theory is the study of scientific models of strategic communication between rational decision-makers, with applications in all fields of social science. Initially, game theory spindles zero-sum games, where one person’s gains result in losses for the other participants. In a zero-sum game, there is always a calculated demonstration of a situation in which each participant’s gain or loss of function is precisely balanced by the losses or gains of the function of the other participants. 

In the context of India’s triumph in the Kargil War, our side achieved what a zero-sum game in game theory intends. The peace-time training of the Indian Armed Forces was instrumental in this achievement. The gains made by the Indian Armed Forces, through their impeccable peace-time training, resulted in losses for the opposition. Also, sensible strategic communication played a key role in India’s triumph.

Minimax Approach

The third connotation for the victory of the Kargil War to be implied here is the Minimax Principle, an administrative principle by which, when faced with two conflicting strategies, by the use of logic, one should determine and use the strategy that will minimise the maximum losses that could occur.

Again, turning back to India’s success in the Kargil War and applying the minimax principle, it is evident that the Indian Armed Forces, by restraining themselves from making the situation more offensive, minimised the maximum losses that could have otherwise occurred. It was a strategic move that concerned India because the Kargil War was purely a startling upshot in India’s war history. While confronting a situation that was not estimated, if the more offensive strategies were embraced, unquestionably it would have ensued in a loss rather than paybacks. The Indian Armed Forces have adopted a self-induced war strategy of restraint to keep the war limited to the Kargil sector.

India’s conquest in envisaging such an unforeseen eventuality and winning over the well-equipped opponent in the Kargil War has highlighted India’s preeminent vigilance to encounter such situations. The Kargil War is a saga of resilient political, military, and diplomatic engagements, and it will always be conjured for strategic and tactical surprises. To sum up, India’s victory in the Kargil War modestly reverberates, “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war!” 

(The writer is an Air Force veteran turned independent
researcher and author.)