Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on July 26 every year to commemorate the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers in the Kargil War in 1999.
During the war, "Operation Vijay" was launched by the Indian Army to recapture the Indian territories occupied by Pakistani soldiers in the Kargil-Drass sector.
On May 3, 1999, the presence of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants was first reported by local shepherds at the top of the Kargil ridges.
Pakistani soldiers and militants were first noticed atop Kargil ridges on May 8, 1999. The infiltration pattern showed that the enemy soldiers had captured areas east of Batalik and north of Dras.
In May 1999, under "Operation Vijay", the Indian troops moved towards the occupied Pakistani positions with air cover provided by aircraft and helicopters.
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The operation was a joint infantry-artillery endeavour to evict Pakistani soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry (NLI).
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On May 26, the Indian Air Force began airstrikes against suspected infiltrator positions. The code name assigned to their role was "Operation Safed Sagar". The following day, a MiG-21 and one MiG-27 aircraft are shot down by Anza surface-to-air missiles of the Pakistan Army's Air Defence Corps. Flight Lieutenant Kambampati Nachiketa, the pilot of the MiG-27, was captured by a Pakistani patrol and was given prisoner of war (POW) status. He was later released on June 3, 1999.
On May 28, a Mi-17 of the Indian Air Force was shot down by Pakistani forces, and all four crew members were killed.
By the first week of June, the Pakistan Army had begun shelling operations on India's National Highway 1 in Kashmir and Ladakh.
On June 13, 1999, the first major ridgeline to fall was Tololing in the Drass sub-sector, which was captured after several weeks of fighting. The attacks involved sustained fire assaults from over one hundred artillery guns, mortars, and rocket launchers. In the direct firing were the 155 mm Bofors medium guns and 105 mm Indian field guns that destroyed all visible enemy sangars and forced them to abandon various positions.
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The capture of the Tololing complex paved the way for successive assaults to be launched on the Tiger Hill complex from various directions. Three Indian regiments — Sikh, Grenadiers, and Naga — fought against the Pakistani NLI regiment, and after fighting for over 12 hours, Tiger Hill was recaptured on July 4-5.
By June 9, the Indian forces had recaptured two key positions in the Batalik sector.
The terrain in the Batalik Sector was tougher as the enemy was far more firmly entrenched. Almost a month was taken by the Indian forces to capture the post. Artillery observation posts (OPs) were instituted on dominating heights, and sustained artillery fire was brought down on the enemy day and night.
On June 21, point 5203 was recaptured, and on July 6, 1999, Khalubar was also recaptured. Within the next few weeks, further attacks were pressed against the remaining Pakistani posts in the Batalik sub-sector.
In many vital points, neither artillery nor air power could dislodge the outposts of the Pakistani soldiers. So, the Indian army mounted direct ground assaults, which took a heavy toll given the steep ascent that had to be made on peaks as high as 5,500 metres. The temperatures were often as low as −15 to −11 degrees near the mountain tops.
Two months into the conflict, Indian troops had slowly recaptured most of the ridges that were encroached upon by the Pakistani infiltrators.
On July 26, it was declared that "Operation Vijay' was successful, and the Indian forces had defected the Pakistani soldiers.
It was reported that as many as 527 Indian forces personnel were killed during the war, and over 1,363 were wounded. During the war, one fighter jet was shot down, one fighter jet crashed, and one helicopter was shot down.
Captain Vikram Batra, an Indian Army officer who lost his life during a fight at Tiger Hill, was recognised for his bravery. His famous words, "Yeh dil maange more," have become iconic.
After the war's completion, several Indian soldiers earned awards for gallantry. Four Param Vir Chakras and 11 Maha Vir Chakras were awarded.
Param Vir Chakra awardees:
Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav (18 Grenadiers)
Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey (1/11 Gorkha Rifles)
Captain Vikram Batra (13 JAK Rifles)
Rifleman Sanjay Kumar (13 JAK Rifles)
Mahavir Chakra awardees:
Captain Anuj Nayyar (17 Jat)
Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari (18 Grenadiers)
Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri (12 Bihar)
Naik Digendra Kumar (2 Rajputana Rifles)
Lieutenant Balwan Singh (18 Grenadiers)
Naik Imliakum Ao (2 Naga)
Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrum (12 JAK LI)
Captain Neikezhakuo Kenguruse (2 Rajputana Rifles)
Major Padmapani Acharya (2 Rajputana Rifles)
Major Sonam Wangchuk (Ladakh Scouts)
Major Vivek Gupta (2 Rajputana Rifles)