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{{Short description|Indian memorial day}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Vijay Diwas (India)|Vijay Diwas]]}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name = Kargil Vijay Diwas
|type = [[Victory Day for India]]
|image = Kargil War Memorial, Operation Vijay.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption = [[Kargil War Memorial]]
|official_name =
|nickname =
|observedby = [[India]]
|litcolor =
|longtype =
|significance = Victory and end of the [[Kargil War]]
|begins =
|ends =
|date = 26 July
|scheduling = 25 July 2018
|duration = 1 day
|frequency = Annual
|celebrations =
|observances =
|relatedto =
}}
'''Kargil Vijay Diwas''' (Hindi: कारगिल विजय दिवस, lit. Kargil Victory Day) is commemorated every 26 July in India, to observe India's victory over Pakistan in the [[Kargil War]] for ousting Pakistani Forces from their occupied positions on the mountain tops of Northern [[Kargil District]] in [[Ladakh]] in 1999. Initially, the Pakistani army denied their involvement in the war, claiming that it was caused by Kashmiri militants forces. However documents left behind by casualties, testimony of POWs and later statements by the Prime Minister of Pakistan [[Nawaz Sharif]] and Pakistan Army Chief of Army Staff [[Pervez Musharraf]] showed the involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pak commander blows the lid on Islamabad's Kargil plot - Indian Express|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/as-spell-binding-as-the-guns-of-navarone/475330|access-date=2020-07-27|website=archive.indianexpress.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2007-09-10|title=Sharif admits he 'let down' Vajpayee on Kargil conflict|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/Sharif-admits-he-lsquolet-downrsquo-Vajpayee-on-Kargil-conflict/article14832565.ece|access-date=2020-07-27|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on 26 July every year in honour of the Kargil War's Heroes. This day is celebrated all over India and in the national capital, New Delhi, where the Prime Minister of India pays homage to the soldiers at [[Amar Jawan Jyoti]] at the [[India Gate]] every year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kargil Vijay Diwas : Nation pays homage to brave martyrs|url=http://www.patrika.com/news/kargil-vijay-diwas-nation-pays-homage-to-brave-martyrs/1020046|access-date=26 July 2014|work=Patrika Group|issue=25 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728204939/http://www.patrika.com/news/kargil-vijay-diwas-nation-pays-homage-to-brave-martyrs/1020046|archive-date=28 July 2022}}</ref> Functions are also organized all over the country to commemorate the contributions of the [[Indian Armed Forces]].<ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City/Allahabad/City-to-observe-Kargil-Vijay-Diwas-today/articleshow/4820073.cms City to observe Kargil Vijay Diwas today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801073350/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City/Allahabad/City-to-observe-Kargil-Vijay-Diwas-today/articleshow/4820073.cms |date=2009-08-01 }} [[Allahabad]], ''[[The Times of India]]'', TNN July 25, 2009.</ref><ref name="AhujaSaxena2006">{{cite book|last1=Ahuja|first1=B.N.|last2=Saxena|first2=Paresh|title=Pitambar's Handbook of General Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5tsdiXbwaQC&pg=PA33|access-date=5 November 2011|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Pitambar Publishing|isbn=978-81-209-0516-0|page=33}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Kargilwarmemorialdarss6.jpg|thumb|About Operation Vijay at Kargil War Memorial Dras.]]
After the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], there had been a long period of relatively few direct armed conflicts involving the military forces of the two neighbours – not withstanding the efforts of both nations to control the [[Siachen Glacier]] by establishing military outposts on the surrounding mountains ridges and the resulting military skirmishes in the 1980s. During the 1990s, however, escalating [[Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir|tension and conflict due to separatist activities]] in [[Kashmir]], as well as the conducting of nuclear tests by both countries in 1998, led to an increasingly belligerent atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite web|date=Jul 26, 2020|title=Kargil Diwas: 'Kargil Vijay Diwas symbol of India's valour and steadfast leadership': Key points {{!}} India News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/kargil-vijay-diwas-symbol-of-indias-proud-valour-and-steadfast-leadership-key-points/articleshow/77177417.cms|access-date=2020-07-26|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>

In an attempt to defuse the situation, both countries signed the [[Lahore Declaration]] in February 1999, promising to provide a peaceful and bilateral solution to the Kashmir conflict. During the winter of 1998–1999, some elements of the Pakistani Armed Forces were covertly training and sending Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces, into territory on the Indian side of the line of control (LOC). The infiltration was code-named "Operation Badri". The aim of the Pakistani incursion was to sever the link between Kashmir and [[Ladakh]] and cause Indian forces to withdraw from the Siachen Glacier, thus forcing India to negotiate a settlement of the broader Kashmir dispute. Pakistan also believed that any tension in the region would internationalize the Kashmir issue, helping it to secure a speedy resolution. Yet another goal may have been to boost the morale of the decade-long rebellion in the Indian State of Kashmir by taking a proactive role.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-26|title=Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021: India to honour fallen heroes, 559 lamps lit in Ladakh|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/kargil-vijay-diwas-2021-india-to-honour-fallen-heroes-559-lamps-lit-in-ladakh-101627256690029.html|access-date=2021-07-26|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref>

Initially, with little knowledge of the nature and extent of the infiltration, the Indian troops in the area assumed that the infiltrators were jihadis and declared that they would evict them within a few days. The subsequent discovery of infiltration elsewhere along the LOC, along with the difference in tactics employed by the infiltrators, caused the Indian army to realize that the plan of attack was on a much bigger scale. The total area seized by the ingress is generally accepted to between 130 km<sup>2</sup> – 200 km<sup>2</sup>. The Government of India responded with Operation Vijay, a mobilization of 200,000 Indian troops. The war came to an official end on July 26, 1999, with the eviction of Pakistan Army troops from their occupied positions, thus marking it as Kargil Vijay Diwas. 527 soldiers from the Indian Armed Forces lost their lives during the war.<ref>[http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/27/stories/2009072752650300.htm Vijay Diwas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930180303/http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/27/stories/2009072752650300.htm |date=2009-09-30 }} ''[[The Hindu]]'', July 27, 2009.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Vijay Diwas (India)]]
* [[Victory Day]] in other countries
* [[Kargil War]]
* [[Operation Vijay (1999)|Operation Vijay]]
* [[Operation Safed Sagar]]
* [[Kargil War Memorial]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kargil Vijay Diwas}}
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:Kargil War]]
[[Category:Victory days]]
[[Category:July observances]]
[[Category:Annual events in India]]

Kargil Vijay Diwas - Revision history

Bot at 02:32, 22 August 2022