Lessons from Kargil: 25 years on

The war demonstrated India's ability to effectively conduct tri-service operations, even in the absence of a formal tri-service doctrine

A quarter of a century has elapsed since May-July 1999, when India and Pakistan fought a 74-day mini-war in the Kargil sector of the Line of Control (LoC) — the de facto border between the two countries. The so-called Kargil conflict took the lives of more than 500 soldiers from each side and marked the culmination of a geopolitically-charged period in South Asia. It is worth revisiting the tactical, strategic and diplomatic lessons that emerged from that conflict.

New Delhi went into the Kargil War at a particularly turbulent juncture in its history. India’s higher command structure —