Former Northern Command chief Lieutenant General (retired) D S Hooda termed Kargil as a "bloody war" and the one of the major challenges faced by the Army since the 1971 engagement with Pakistan that resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.
He was speaking on Tuesday at a programme titled 'Kargil Award' by city-based organisation Sarhad on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the war.
The war began on May 3, 1999 and ended a few weeks later on July 26, with Indian soldiers winning back hills occupied by Pakistani forces.
"Kargil was was one of the major challenges the Indian Army faced since 1971...A local shepherd came and alerted the Indian Army about some infiltrations of Pakistanis...It was a big surprise. Nobody had imagined Pakistani infiltrators would intrude and hide there," recalled Hooda.
He said Indian soldiers showed exemplary valour fighting forces who were at a height and successfully pushed them back, adding that 500 soldiers laid down their lives and another 1500 got injured.
"This was not a small level fight....the war went on for three months. It was a bloody war and our soldiers had to face tough situations while conquering the posts captured by the Pakistanis," he said.
"Because of the bravery and martyrdom of our soldiers, the country is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Operation Vijay," the former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army's Northern Command said.
Operation Vijay was the name given to India's limited war against Pakistan after the latter infiltrated in 1999.
Hooda was chief of the Northern Command during the surgical strike on Pakistan in September, 2016 following the Uri terror attack.
Former Union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who was also present at the function, termed the intrusions as a failure of intelligence agencies.
However, a shepherd gave us information, he said, and termed it a courageous act.
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