Forty-seven years ago, on this day (August 5) the local Kashmiris spotted the infiltration of Pakistanis into India, when about 30,000 of them, dressed as locals, crossed the border and entered Indian territory.
While it triggered the 1965 war against Pakistan that officially began on September 1 and ended 22 days later, the battle itself was a breakthrough for the Indian military that gained strength to win the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
“Despite the stalemate, the 1965 war actually set the stage for our comprehensive victory in 1971,” said retired Lt Gen S. Pattabhiraman, a trainee cadet at National Defence Academy in 1965.
“Indian military was in a development stage. But we destroyed American battle tanks that were engaged by the Pakistanis against us during the monsoon period. It was a miscalculation on their part,” he added.
While Indian Air Force got fully involved in combat war for the first time in 1965, Prof Gopalji Malviya, former head, Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Madras, said the war actually marked India’s ascendancy as a military power.
“We showed our strength despite the political turmoil and psychological weaknesses caused by the 1962 China war. We fought bravely and displayed to the world that we have the talent and capacity to devise strategic plans in the 1965 war,” he added.
“The Pakistanis wanted to attack India and capture the disputed region of Kashmir while we were recuperating from the earlier loss, but then our military planned well and opened up Punjab and Sialkot sectors to divert their forces and win brownie points by capturing the Haji Pir Pass, which we returned after the Tashkent agreement,” Prof Malviya said.
He added that the infiltration in Kashmir took place since April 1965, while the Pakistanis were attacking at Rann of Kutch, but it was only on August 5 that the locals found out and reported the issue to the government.
The Pakistanis had sent their paramilitary forces (Razakars) and religious extremists (Mujahideens) in the guise of locals to Kashmir to create insurgency during war.