Operation Vijay to continue
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, July 12 — Pakistan must withdraw from the Indian side of the Line of Control in the Kargil sector by the first light of July 16, the Director Generals of Military Operations of the two countries have agreed.

The DGMOs of the two countries, who met at Attari in the Border Security Force checkpost area on July 11 afternoon decided that the Indian security forces will not impede the withdrawal process by firing at the intruders.

Pakistan has been told that there is no ceasefire or cessation of hostilities except that the use of air strikes and some ground-based weapons will not take place in the sector where the Pakistan withdrawal is under way.

A spokesman of the Indian Army said the withdrawal has to take place mainly in the areas of Mashkoh and Kaksar sectors. The withdrawal from Dras and Batalik sectors is of very little consequence. Almost all of these areas have already been cleared.

"Operation Vijay is still continuing. At present there is no question of our pulling out forces from the Kargil sector or anywhere else," he added.

The Pakistan DGMO has been told that after the July 16 deadline any intruder found in Indian territory will be treated as "hostile" and will be dealt with accordingly.

The spokesman said subsequent to the meeting of the two DGMOs, there have been reports that the armed intruders have already started withdrawing from the Kaksar and Mashkoh sectors. The Indian troops are proceeding to verify this.

Briefing mediapersons on the meetings of the DGMOs of the two sides, the spokesman said on July 9 at 9.30 p.m., the Pakistan DGMO rang up his Indian counterpart on the hotline and informed him that the intruders would pull out from Kaksar area with effect from the first light of July 10 and thereafter, from the remaining pockets of intrusion.

It was agreed that during this pull-out period there would be no air strikes. Some ground weapons will also not be used in the sector where the Pakistan army withdrawal was under way.

Subsequently, the Pakistan DGMO also requested his Indian counterpart for a meeting at the Wagah border on July 11, which was agreed to.

The spokesman said the reasons compelling Pakistan for pulling out troops from India’s side of the LoC was "obvious". Having suffered heavy casualties and with very low morale, the existing pockets would have been cleared in just a few days.

He said the meeting between the DGMOs at Attari also discussed "some other modalities" for early withdrawal of Pakistan troops.

On the operations on the battle front during the past 24 hours, the spokesman said intermittent artillery shelling continued in Batalik and Dras sectors.

In the shelling, 12 Pakistan army soldiers were killed and as many wounded. On the Indian side, seven other ranks were killed and six wounded.

The spokesman said that since "99.99 per cent" of the Batalik and Dras sectors were under the control of the Indian Army it was logical that the firing was coming from the Pakistan side of the Line of Control.

Giving an update on the casualties, the spokesman said according to their assessment based on reliable inputs, the enemy during Operation Vijay suffered 691 all ranks killed.

On the Indian side, the total number of casualties suffered so far were 398 killed, including 23 officers, 16 Junior Commissioned Officers and 359 other ranks.

It was estimated that 578 Indian soldiers were wounded in the action. The spokesman clarified that that there were a number of ranks, who either refused to be hospitalised or had refused the grant of sick leave and rejoined their units in the battlefield.

He recalled that Col Lalit Rai, Commanding Officer of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, had refused to be evacuated and led his battalion from the front during the attack on Khalubar on the night of July 5 and subsequent operations. "This indeed is illustrative of the very high state of morale of our troops" he said.

The spokesman said most of the gun shot wounds sustained by all ranks were in the forehead or chest. "This is reflective of the fiery zeal, outstanding valour and grit displayed by our gallant soldiers in the face of the enemy", he said.

Terming Operation Vijay as a resounding success, the spokesman said "Pakistani forces have been defeated on the ground and status quo ante in the Kargil sector was being restored".

It was mentioned during the briefing that Pakistan continued to maintain that the intruders were "Mujahideen" and its army regulars had no role.

"It is abundantly clear by now that the overwhelming majority of those who crossed over from Pakistan in Kargil were Pakistani troops in pursuit of a misadventure, fully planned and conducted by the Pakistani authorities".

He said the presence of Pakistani regulars was borne out by the evidence that Indian forces had collected in the form of identity cards, official army documents, personal letters and photographs and Pakistani weapons in the recaptured posts.