Arun Joshi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, while paying rich tributes and soldiers who made Kargil war victory possible 25 years ago, warned Pakistan to draw necessary lessons from the humiliating defeats that it suffered at the hands of India in wars and proxy war or it is in for a big trouble. “India will crush all sorts of terrorism coming from Pakistan on borders or through proxy war into the hinterland.”
Reflecting on Kargil war and the humiliating defeat that Pakistan was handed over in the Himalayan heights when terrain and heights favored it. “It seems that Pakistan has not learnt any lessons from these defeats”, Prime Minister said, pointing to the continuing terror campaign that Islamabad is carrying out against India in Jammu and Kashmir where terrorism has been eliminated and tourism has taken firm roots.
Modi paid homage to the jawans who laid down their lives during Kargil war in the summer of 1999 to evict Pakistani intruders who had occupied the Indian pickets during the winters by repeating their history of betraying the peace efforts. He termed the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Kargil War fought on the trans-Himalayan heights in 1999 as the historical legacy of inspiration for the younger generations in the country.
Kargil War memorial is at Drass, the place that was one of the major theatres of war in 1999. The enemy perched on the heights more than 14,000 to 18,000 heights had a clear view of the National Highway from Srinagar to Leh at crucial points with a clear design to disrupt and destroy the supply lines of the Indian troops to Siachen glacier and borders with China in eastern Ladakh. This was toughest situation for the army as it did not know the total strength of Pakistani soldiers on the top of the heights, nor mechanism to climb the Rocky Mountains when even a stone rolled by enemy from heights could cause immense losses to the Indian army.
Today, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Kargil victory, Prime Minister reminded the world, and Pakistan in particular, that India was engaged in peace-making efforts with Islamabad. His reference was to Lahore bus journey undertaken by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to engage Pakistan in peace-making efforts. Vajpayee in his historic speech at Miar-e-Pakistan in Lahore had declared “We will not allow war (between India and Pakistan) to erupt. But within months Kargil happened.
Modi described the war as “betrayal” and said that despite occupying heights and writing a saga of breach of trust, the Indian nation and soldiers inflicted a humiliated defeat on Pakistan. Pakistan had lost wars earlier too, but it never learnt a lesson. It is because of this stubbornness that it has failed in all its attempts.
Prime Minister Modi did not mince words in warning Pakistan that all its efforts to export terrorism would be crushed. This had a special resonance of the terror attacks that have revisited Jammu region in the past one month or so, in which 11 soldiers have died.
Kargil war of 1999 symbolizes two things – Pakistan cannot be trusted for making peace as it has itself squandered all chances of normal ties because of its blind pursuit of terrorism and intentions to bleed India. In a way it was a clear message to Pakistan that all its talk of having normal times with India would not be entertained unless its gives up on terrorism once and for all.
This message, as it has come from the war memorial of Kargil war heroes, shows that the Modi 3.0 is strong in its resolve not to hold talks with Pakistan in the circumstances in which it seeks to attack its soldiers and officers. That being one, and at the same time, he also meant that it shuns its misleading propaganda on India vis-à-vis Kashmir at international level.
This was a message not only to Pakistan but also to the rest of the world that India’s love for peace is ultimate but it will crush all threats . The message was for China oo , as Chinese troops have created a situation in eastern Ladakh, which is quite tense and uncomfortable for India.
Disclaimer: This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with www.prameyanews.com.
