When the firing started in 1999, it was difficult to tell if it was a war, and whether India and Pakistan were at war at all. Certainly, Indian soldiers were in the firing line from the outset and the battle was in Indian territory, but the Pakistan Government initially maintained that Indian troops were fighting an internal battle against separatists. Later, as the battle progressed and the coffins started appearing in Pakistan in large numbers, it was difficult for the Pakistan military to deny its involvement. As the last pockets of Pakistani soldiers were mopped up the Pakistan government sought a face saving solution to convert the rout into a semblance of a withdrawal.
It is necessary to look at a map to understand the Kargil conflict. The orange line marks the international border between India and Pakistan, with Pakistan in the north.. On the Indian side of the border (south) gentle slopes give way to mountains towering up to 18,000 feet. Further south of these mountains, and on their foothills lie the Indian towns of Kargil and Drass, and an important Indian highway (Srinagar-Leh highway, National Highway (NH) 1A).
The Pakistan side of the border is easily surveyed from the mountains on the Indian side, but that surveillance was patchy at best. Thus shielded from prying Indian eyes the Pakistan army put into place a brilliant but short-sighted plan to recapture Kashmir. For many years (from the mid-1980s, according to some accounts) Pakistani troops dressed as civilians (as in 1965) crossed the border, climbed the gentle slopes up to the mountains north of Kargil and gradually built up supply routes and fortifications in the mountains within the Indian border. It is clear that the Pakistani incursions were greatly aided by a naive lack of concern on the part of the Indian intelligence set up for what may be happening in this hostile mountainous area - said to be "traditionally not an area for infiltration". Having got well entrenched in the areas shaded yellow in the map, Pakistani forces were able to monitor traffic on India's NH1A, direct accurate artillery fire on it and on other targets and get themselves into position to cut off the highway. It is arguable whether that act would have cut off Northern Kashmir from India - as other routes exist, but Pakistan certainly had the areas marked yellow in the map firmly under its control.
After a belated political realization of the extent of the problem the Indian armed forces were handed the task of literally fighting an uphill battle against a well entrenched and well supplied enemy in hostile terrain. Once again the Indian armed forces showed considerable resilience and innovation. Traditional artillery pieces were changed from their usual role of lobbing shells over mountains to a direct fire mode - targeting line-of sight Pakistani bunkers and supply dumps. In an act that was probably not anticipated by Pakistan - the Indian Air Force was brought in, and once again innovation was applied to achieve pinpoint accuracy in high altitude bombardment of mountaintop targets in conditions that no other air force in the world has been asked to perform. A newly empowered media savvy Indian public and the media aided mobilization of resources and watched India's first televised war as territory was recaptured peak by peak. A beleagured Pakistani Prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, expecting his country to be invaded (mistakenly as it turned out) rushed to the US to try and work out a belated admission of Pakistani involvement and a withdrawal. By the time he returned to face an angry population the rout was complete, and the territorial advantage that Pakistan had painstakingly built up through years of benign Indian neglect was wiped out.
Pictures from the Kargil conflict