PAKISTAN ARMY CHIEF ACKNOWLEDGES KARGIL DEBACLE

By Ajay Singh

New Delhi, 7th September 2024: When General Asim Munir publicly acknowledged the role of the Pakistan Army in the Kargil intrusion, it was the first time that a serving Pakistani Army Chief had announced it in a public forum. But then, he had merely voiced something that was public knowledge for all these years.

Watch: In a rare admission, the Pakistani Army has officially acknowledged its involvement in the 1999 Kargil War with India

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir, on the occasion of Defence Day, says, “Thousands of martyrs sacrificed their lives for the country in the wars… pic.twitter.com/Z4sjlschWr

— IANS (@ians_india) September 7, 2024

General Parvez Musharaff, the architect of the Pakistani debacle had acknowledged the involvement of the Pakistani Army in his book which he had written post retirement. But even then he kept emphasising that the intrusion was by ‘mujahideens’ and ‘freedom fighter’  and did not acknowledge the fact that they were indeed Pakistani soldiers and the operation had been planned and executed by the Pakistan GHQ. The Pakistani army has never publicly acknowledged their involvement or the scale of the defeat.  In fact, they disseminated the news slowly and in dribbles – and even refused to accept their dead and wounded, so that the scale of the defeat would not be exposed to thier own countrymen.  It was the Indian Army that buried their dead with correct military decorum, and even handed over bodies in full view of the cameras. But many of their dead remained abandoned in the barren hills,  and Pakistan’s writings show a great deal of resentment at this.

Now that Army Chief has publicly accepted the role of the Pakistani Army in Kargil, perhaps it would pave the way for a white paper on the subject in Pakistan.  But that may open a can of worms and would never be permitted by the army. So the Pakistani Army will continue issuing the same stories of half-truths and denials. But it is in their own interest that the truth is revealed clearly and unambiguously. It will go a long way in clearing the taint that still remains on the Pakistani Army for the betrayal it had inflicted on its own nation and country men and the nature of the defeat that it had incurred. 

You can watch a video on the Kargil war at