Chandigarh: Stating that the 1999 Kargil War had important lessons for the nation, Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki said the conflict had also sent an important message globally that India was capable of taking resolute action to defend its territorial integrity.

Chandigarh: Stating that the 1999 Kargil War had important lessons for the nation, Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki said the conflict had also sent an important message globally that India was capable of taking resolute action to defend its territorial integrity.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Jammu Kashmir Study Centre to commemorate the 18th Kargil Vijay Diwas here today, Solanki said that while India had never been an aggressor or occupied foreign territory, any misadventure or use of force by any country against it would meet a similar fate as was met by adversaries in the 1971 Indo-Pak war or the Kargil conflict.

He said that the ongoing Sino-Indian standoff at Doka La, the tri-junction of Sikkim, China and Bhutan, indicated that China wanted to occupy Bhutan, but India had taken a principled stand to protect Bhutan and its own interests.

Solanki said: “The Kargil conflict also teaches us that the nation is always supreme and national unity is the most effective means to deal with a crisis. People have always come together in times of need.”

Former GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen KJ Singh said: “With the spread of terrorism, threats to national security do not lie only at the borders but are omnipresent, and to deal with this all citizens are required to be vigilant.”

Stating that Pakistan is known for deceit, former GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen BS Jaswal said that Pakistan’s initial plan in Kargil was successful, but failed to meet its strategic objective, whereas the Indian Army, which was at a disadvantage at the start of the conflict, but achieved a strategic victory.

President of JKSC, Jawahar Lal Kaul rues that Indians do not have the tendency to look beyond their own backyard which has been the cause of repeated aggression against it. “If we are not strategically smart, we will never be able to defend our borders effectively however brave we might be,” he said.