Kargil : From Surprise to Victory [Dec 01, 2011] Malik, General V. P.

This book is a real gem for anyone willing to learn what's the strategic, operational and tactical culture of the modern Indian Army and how it wages war on some of the most inhospitable places on Earth. General Malik, who was the Chief of Army Staff in the critical 1999 period, gives a very clear picture of Indian warfighting methods, perceptions and capabilities and I must confess I was really impressed by the professionalism of the Indian high command and the bravery of the Indian soldiers. Having a sound background of British military tradition, the modern Indian Army is a powerful instrument of war, very well led and with the full people's support - although it has material defeciencies which it strives to overcome. The book doesn't leave any stone unturned regarding the Kargil conflict. General Malik is very honest with the almost catastrophic surprise suffered intially by the Indian side, and recounts how the Indian Army mobilised for war, how it inducted additional forces in the Jammu and Kashmir area of operations, how it organized its logistics, and how it regained control of the lost posts atop some of the most frightening mountains on earth, in near improbable conditions. Highly recommended!

Good book but General should have written it using layman terms for general population to understand better.

it simply touched my heart. showed the realty of things which is not there in public. understood politico military operations

First hand account of a great victory of India.

The book, Kargil, by retired General V. P. Malik describes in detail how Pakistan planned the war and how well India responded. The book is lengthy, and it goes in too many details at times which an average reader may find unnecessary. But instead of media or an amateur author describing the war, here we see the events unfold from the point of view of a top military general. That makes this book priceless.We learn how Pakistan betrayed India. General Malik shows that in February 1999, while the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers were busy with ‘Lahore Declaration’ which was supposed to establish peace, the Pakistani army was plotting a war. The army was infiltrating the Kargil area and stocking weapons there. When they were caught, Pakistan declared it was Mujahideens and not their soldiers who were occupying the mountain peaks.Once again, India prevailed and kicked Pakistani soldiers on the other side of the Line of Control. India also showed the world that the Pakistani soldiers had infiltrated the area. India showed IDs of Pak soldiers, their diaries, and intercepted telephone calls from their top brass proving the duplicity of Pakistan.Victory in Kargil is in no way going to ensure that the enemy has learnt his lesson. Since India got independence and Pakistan was born, these two countries have waged multiple wars and despite decisive victories every time, Pakistan has not learned anything. Their hatred for India and their obsession for Kashmir are pathological.

Reading the whole episode about kargil war-1999, especially by the COAS himself of that time, I felt its just very mediocre avd disappointing.Lot of the happenings which were important and unforgettable were not discussed.Since I also actively participated in the kargil war, lot of things had been witnessed by me avd my collegues which are untold.The credits which were supposed to be given to the units of 70 BRIGADE AND 192 Mountain Brigade, were lost in the be wilderness of the papers and the documents of the AHQ.The kargil was shown erroneously that it was fought more or less around Tiger Hill, Tololing and around Dras, the reality that the fierce battle were initially started in Batalik and Chor Batla segments.Many units of this formations were not acknowledged with due importance.

This is book for people who are interested in knowing about defence strategies and pattern during kargil war.Gen. Malik also gave some insights regardings problems they faced,about bureaucratic obstacles and shared some good insights and anecdotes.

Good to know lots of facts

A well researched and professionally written narrative. We can sense the General Malik’s angst when he says that DRDO is a technological ghetto who shoot down proposals of professional soldiers for procuring advanced systems saying they can develop it themselves and fail to do so in the required time frame. All that DRDO can show are some slogans and shoddy products which are not comparable to even the mediocre ones available in international markets. Why can’t India make a world class fighter jet, main battle tank or even an assault rifle? For answer all they tell us is American sanctions affected sourcing of crucial parts, or foreign manufacturers prevented the development in so many ways so as to sell their stuff. Britain, France, Russia, China etc have also developed their own armaments under these very conditions. Real reasons for our failures are different. Most of our scientific organisations are filled with mediocre people, appointed on reservation basis who do politics more than work for the goals of their organisations. Modi is trying to change all this by calling spade a spade. The incompetence of HAL has been exposed. The armed forces have to tread a razor edge. If they rely too much on imported arms and ammunition they become liable to political manipulation. If they rely on indigenously developed arms these may fail their men at the most crucial times exposing them to dangers.

Nice book about our Kargil Saga. Good and worth buying book at this price point. Gives an almost detailed view about the operation for an uninitiated like me.The fact that the writer was the then army chief goes both for and against the book.. Being an army chief he had the knowledge and access to much information which others had not. And he has explained it almost all in the book.. A detailed featured map of the terrain in National Geographic Magazine style would have done wonders to the book and is a much needed addendum to this book. Almost a map like this one needed here I had incidentally seen in around 1998 December or1990 January and wondered (no kidding, I assure you) that given the fact of closeness of NH 1A to the line of control, there must be heavy army presence round the year..! And I reassured myself that when I can perceive it, Army Headquarters must have foreseen it too...! Exactly these kind of misses are what caused this and the writer Gen V. P. Mallik can not absolve himself out of it.Perhaps because of this guilt, he has more than tried to project himself in many a places as the man who did all things correct. Along with other ommissions like a lack of detailed map of every sector or at least of the related sectors, which comes out as a thorn in otherwise immensely readable book..Later I learner that many actions by other unit too have been omitted..One thing I would suggest the author to add to book the diary of Captain Mazulla Khan, (as has been done by Harinder Baweja in one of his small early book on Kargil) would have done wonders while reading the book and getting corresponding picture from the Indian side. I have both the book and part concurrent reading was very thrilling..as I could see both sides of actions at least at one point of conflict...