1962 Sino-Indian War
Army Day is celebrated every year on 15 January. Army soldiers are honored on this day every year. This day is celebrated to salute the sacrifice of the soldiers who died while protecting the country and its people. This year, as the nation celebrates soldiers amid the COVID-19 protocol, here is a glimpse of the major wars that the Army fought, painting the tricolor in victory.
1947 – Indo-Pak War
Soon after independence, Pakistan attempted to annex Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the first of four Indo-Pakistani Wars. The war lasted from 22 October 1947 to 5 January 1949.
Pakistan’s tribal militia crossed the Indian border in an attempt to capture Srinagar. They stayed at Baramulla. Hari Singh, the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, sought the support of the Indian Army. After the war, a ceasefire was declared on 1 January 1949. The terms of the ceasefire set out in the United Nations Commission’s resolution on 13 August 1948 were adopted by the Commission on 5 January 1949.
The war lasted from 22 October 1947 to 5 January 1949.
Pakistan’s reluctance to accept a ceasefire diminished after Indian troops went on a winning spree in November. A total of 2,814 soldiers were martyred in the war. The ceasefire required Pakistan to withdraw its forces, both regularly and irregularly, while India was allowed to maintain minimum forces within the state to maintain law and order.
1962 – Indo-China War
The Indo-China war of 1962 is recorded as one of the most unforgettable wars fought by the Indian Army in history. The special thing is that the Indian Army was not ready for the attack of China. The unexpected attack left India and its 20,000 army men fighting alongside China’s 80,000 military personnel. The war lasted for almost a month and ended in the month of November 1962 when China declared a ceasefire. China’s perception of India as a threat to its rule of Tibet became one of the most prominent causes of the Sino-Indian War.
1962 Sino-Indian War
The early part of the year 1962 was also full of tension between India and China, before the war actually happened. On July 10, 1962, around 350 Chinese soldiers surrounded an Indian post at Chushul and used loudspeakers to convince the Gurkhas that they should not fight for India.
Although India was unprepared for war, when the Indian Army learned that a Chinese force had gathered in a pass, it opened fire with mortars and machine guns, killing about 200 Chinese soldiers.
1965 – Indo-Pakistani War
The Second Indo-Pak War was started by the Pakistani Army in 1965. The war took place after Pakistan launched a covert operation across the ceasefire line in Kashmir. By capturing the Kanjarkot area of Kutch, Pakistan attacked first. Later it opened new areas of war in Jammu and Kashmir. The war ended with the intervention of the United Nations and both sides went back to the pre-war position. The Indian Army was able to subdue the Pakistani tanks and won a decisive victory in 1965. By 22 September both sides had agreed to a UN-mandated ceasefire to end the war, which by that time had reached a stalemate.
1971 – Victory Day
The war began with Operation Genghis Khan’s retrospective air strikes on 11 Indian air stations, which led to hostilities with Pakistan and the Indian entry into the war for independence in East Pakistan on the side of Bengali nationalist forces, the current conflict with Indian expanded. And the Pakistani army is engaged on both the eastern and western fronts. The war ended 13 days later and India gained a clear upper hand, with the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Army signing the Instrument of Surrender.
About 93,000 Pakistani soldiers were taken captive by the Indian Army, which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan.
1971 war
During the 1971 Bangladesh War for Independence, members of the Pakistani military and the Razakars who supported pro-Pakistan Islamist militias raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women and girls in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. On 13 December, India’s Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw said, “You surrender or we will destroy you,” shortly after which India won the war over the Pak Armed Forces. With the surrender of the Pakistani Army. Since then, this day is celebrated as Victory Day in India and Bangladesh. On 16 December 1971, Dhaka marked the formation of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh. Indian Army celebrates this day in a very special way and the general public also celebrates this day by sending greetings and best wishes to each other.
Read more about the importance of war: Vijay Diwas 2021: All you need to know about India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war
1999 – Kargil War
On 26 July 1999, India successfully took command of the high posts. The Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days and ended on this day when the Pakistani army took advantage of the melting snow and betrayed the bilateral understanding of both the countries that the post would be unattainable during the winter season – took charge of India’s high checkpoints.
By early 1999, the air was thin around the prospect of a 60-day war. In contrast, the two countries signed the Lahore Declaration in February 1999, which promised to provide a peaceful and bilateral solution to the Kashmir conflict. However, some elements of the Pakistani Armed Forces were secretly training and sending Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces to the Indian territory of the Line of Control (LOC). The code name of the infiltration was ‘Operation Badri’.
kargil war
The Indian government responded with ‘Operation Vijay’, a mobilization of 200,000 Indian soldiers. The war officially ended on July 26, 1999, thus marking it as Kargil Vijay Diwas.
Related | Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021: Remembering the heroes of India who put the nation first
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