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Safety, honour and welfare of the country first: Gen Ved Prakash Malik

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Mangaluru: Gen. Ved Prakash Malik, the army chief who led the army during the Kargil War spoke on “Kargil War-1999” in a programme organised by DK Ex-Servicemen’s Association Mangaluru, NITTE Education Trust, Lions Club International District 317 D and Shasthavu Shri Bhoothanatheshwara Temple Trust in Town Hall here on April 19.

“The Kargil war was not won by me but we had won it. Our soldiers were taught that the safety, honour and welfare of the country comes first and the welfare and comfort of the men in army comes next.The Kargil war has taught many lessons for country and security agencies,” he said.

He also opined that the first lesson that everyone should remember is that national security should never be taken for granted. “Less than four months after our Prime Minister signed the Lahore agreement, we had to fight the Kargil war. The preparation for Kargil war started 10 days after Pervez Musharaf took over the army as chief. When the Pakistan soldiers attacked disguising themselves as Jihadis, it was presumed that it was a terrorist attack. Actually, after sometimes we released that they were Pakistan soldiers who had entered Indian borders.

Briefing about the geological difficulties during the war, he said army had to face many uncertainties. The heights of the hills were about 40000 to 80000 feet covered with snow. Pakistan army wanted to capture some of the Indian territories. They wanted to cut off the road going from Srinagar to Kargil and capture Turtuk which was is with India, he added.

“Due to international issue, the then government had also asked the army not to cross the line of control.This has tied our hands. Later, all three forces-Army, Navy and Air Force worked together to create a strategic imbalance among Pakistani troops.”

He also recalled letters written by Major Vikram Batra, Major P Acharya, Lt Manoj Pandey to their family.

On this occasion, K G Jagadish, Deputy Commissioner; Bhushan G Borase, Superintendent of Police; Arun Shetty, District Governor of Lions Club; Vijay Vittal Shetty, Managing Trustee of Shasthavu Shri Bhoothanatheshwara Temple Trust and others were present.

Col. N Sharath Bhandary welcomed.

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