Kargil War: From Surprise to Victory

by Malik V. P. General

Offers a first person account of the 1999 Kargil war - its rationale, planning, conduct and impact from the man at the helm of affairs. This volume presents several details and attempts to answer many related crucial questions.

Genres: History, India, War, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, Audiobook

452 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2006

Reviews

[Vishal Kale · Rating 5 out of 5]

. The book is not just about the Kargil War - it has a very vast scope. It is an analysis of how the intrusion by Pakistan happened, how it was planned, what were the Pakistani compulsions and strategic objectives behind the plan, the historical perspective of Siachen and its relevance to Kargil & roles of various military and political personnel in Pakistan in the planning and execution. The book details failures on the Indian side- Army, Intelligence, Political, Bureaucratic, Procurement and Planning failures - why were we not able to detect the intrusions. Thereafter, the book describes the war and its implications in terms of strategic and military challenges, improvements, implications for Indo-Pakistani Dialogue & implications of South East Asian security. It examines the Nuclear question in some detail and looks at both sides of the coin.

The author is pretty much brutal, contemptuous and merciless on the bureaucratic and political class when it comes to defence planning and procurement....

[Chinmay Tatwawadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like long reviews so won't give one. A few pointers:

- There are no "grand secrets" that are shared here. No insider news. Let's say, it's politically correct and the general goes to great length to keep it that way.
- Very few anecdotes from the front. You will probably get more on Quora or other forums.
- The General himself said that army chief has to act as "politico-military" bridge. I wasn't mentally prepared to read all the political hogwash. But it was enlightening nonetheless. Our politicians are truly cringe-worthy.
- The part of the battle is more from a bird's eye view. A lot of logistics. It felt like a report rather than an account from someone in thick of the war. A personal touch would have made a world of difference.
- Being an Indian helped me get through the book. "A soldier can fight a war and you can't even read a book?" - Me.
- Despite all this, after reading the book, any Indian would be proud of our fearless soldiers and Army. We should be grateful we have such brave men on the front defending against a barbaric nation. My already high admiration increased a notch.

That was a long review :/

[Aditya Ganjoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kargil conflict of 1999 needs no introduction at least to the Indian population. This was the first (restricted) war between India and Pakistan, when both had nukes in their arsenal.
Gen Malik allows the reader to peep into the unfoldings both at strategic level and tactical levels, and then to the aftermath. As a reader, I divide this book into three segments:

(i) Strategic: Engagement of chiefs with the government executives and intelligence chiefs at CCS- the highest defence related decision making body of India. Gen Malik has described how initial intelligence lead to confusion across the institutions and how strong coordination along with improving intelligence cleared the fog of war. Finally how the political conclusion was brought to the table

(ii) Tactical: The actual fighting! Making of the war heroes like Capt Vikram Batra PVC, Hav Yogendra Yadav PVC and many more. Due credit has been given to the support teams like the AMC, logistics and gunners

(iii) Analysis: Recommendations for the future. And how things were dealt with in the post war situation. This carries the description of Agra summit and the less talked about Operation Parakram. This part can be connected with the recent developments and restructuring in the Indian Army.


Overall Gen Malik has remained candid and straight forward, calling spade a spade. However, last few chapters were difficult to complete. Maybe I'll give 5 stars when I get smart enough to understand the crux of this part

[Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember hearing about this war while it was taking place in May-July 1999, living in the USA there were other things happening to keep an eye on: Operation Allied Force, 24 March-10 June 1999, the major NATO bombing of Serbia to stop the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Another case of the US helping save muslims but yet still hated by muslims, but I digress.

This title is an excellent read for those not familiar with the Kargil conflict. Then Chief of the Army General Staff, Gen. V.P. Malik writes a broad history of the war giving a view of the lead up to the war and an overview of the fighting and a very good analysis of the aftermath. The last several chapters deal with Gen. Malik's view of the geopolitical repercussions for Pakistan and the change needed in India and Pakistan for real peace to be realized for these two countries.

[Manan Shamihoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barring a few chapters in the middle of the book, where extensive details of some key battles were given, it's a swift read. Not unbiased, but still a detailed account of what happened before, during and after the war. Good book to read. Will recommend to anyone interested in history!!!

[Sidharth Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book on the Kargil war from General V P Malik who led the Indian Army October 1997 to September 2000.
This was a war that was imposed on India in 1999 by the politico-military leadership of Pakistan, which we emerged victorious in at the end.

The author explains very beautifully the following:
a) the geography of our borders
b) the history of India-Pakistan relationships, the Shimla agreement and how Pakistan used the guise of militants but actually sent it's own forces in the summer of 1999
c) the lapses which if could have been prevented would have avoided the war
d) the intent of Pakistan
e) the approach taken by the Indian armed forces
f) the dynamics of relationship between the political and military establishment of Pakistan
g) the impact of the fact that both countries were nuclear powers
h) the role of the Indian Government
i) the role of other countries
j) the role of media during war
k) what does the future have in store and how can we be better prepared

Throughout the book one is inspired by the discipline and determination of our armed forces and the Government and is touched by the selfless stories of valour, honor and sacrifice made by the children of India for protecting her territorial integrity. Hope each of us could do our part for our country to the fullest!

[Abhishek Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

General V.P. Malik has written a great book, providing the view of the Army Chief on the Kargil War. The book certainly helped me gain a much better knowledge on several topics like on ground operational details on how several peaks were captured, the geo political implication of the war, the Indian Military and Intelligence complex, the domestic politics, shortcomings in our defense capabilities etc.

It was interesting to note how similar and dissimilar India's current approach to conflicts with Pakistan is vis-à-vis 20 years back. While we are still bogged down by bureaucracy and lack of private players when it comes to modernization of our army, there has been a shift in the response of Indian government when dealing with Pakistan sponsored terrorism (2001 Operation Parakram vs Balakot Air strikes 2019).

I feel author could have been more linear in his story telling, but I fully understand how it would have difficult to achieve while analyzing war from multiple dimensions.

I would definitely recommend it to everyone. The book was a nostalgic endeavor for me personally as I experienced flashbacks of childhood memories like Kargil war game on cousin's computer, TV coverage of the Parliament Attack etc. while reading it.

[Sunil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent account of the Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan in 1999 by the then Indian COAS Ved Malik. I had patiently waited for the audible release than the physical book.

The book covers all aspects of the conflict - context, build-up, military tactics and strategy ( within its purview), and the politics. At times it does feel a bit detailed with all the names of platoons, companies and regiments, well, it is a military book. Recommended for readers interested in this-specific conflict and general military history.

Also on the same subject, I'd suggest reading From Kargil to Coup by Nasim Zehra.

[Aditya Mookerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very balanced account of the relation between India and Pakistan, before the Kargil War. I am reading page 45 currently. Consider this assessment: "......, there was no intelligence about, or any indication of, a Pakistani attack by infiltration into the Kargil sector coinciding with the melting of snow in the higher reaches of the Himalayas." (Page 32)
This is a very balanced and cool headed appraisal. Why? The use of the word 'coinciding'. The writing of the appraisal has perhaps not emphasised that the infiltration was a plan to "......the melting of snow in the higher reaches of the Hymalaya's."
The book is full of very plain speak, but in elegant form. I believe, life in the army, makes one an effective writer.
I remember, after the Lahore summit, I disbelieved the Army Chief, when he said, that the levels of infiltration had not come down. I had the good sense not to be surprised, when the infiltration into Kargil, became known, soon after. Before the army announcement on Kargil, I thought it was the imagination of some civilian bureaucrat, who was trying to be self important. I certainly felt crestfallen, when I understood that the Lahore summit did not really matter.
General V P Malik will go down in history as a great military leader. This operation was more difficult than the war for Bangladesh's liberation. Why? Many soldiers sacrificed their lives in circumstances which gave them no option, but to do so. The book is his autobiography, told by the deeds and actions of others.

[Vijay Rayasam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the excellent book which has been written by V.P.Malik, who was present on the front. He had dealt with all the factors that led to the war. The Pakistan army played a dual role in the face of Mujaheddin but failed very soon. All the peaks which were intruded in the Indian side of LOC by Pakistan regular army in the face of Mujaheddin, were snatched by Indian Army and Pakistan Army had to fall on its knees and surrender. It was proved by Indian army that the intruders were actually Pakistan regular army soldiers and not the Mujaheddin, by whatever they recovered after recapturing the posts on Indian side of LOC. After this, Pakistan also had to face pressure from the Washington to withdraw its troops. Many years after Kargil war, General Pervez Musharraf wrote a book in which he claims that Kargil was actually Pakistan's victory, for which the author has answered quite strongly. Indian Army faught bravely like always and deserved the victory but at the same time it had to lose many soldiers, the loss which is irreversible. After war, Pakistan Army had also refused to accept dead bodies of their soldiers, after which Indian Army cremated those bodies on Indian soil in Islamic way. This shows the devotion of our army and respect towards the other army soldiers. This deed of our army reminds me a dialogue from an Indian movie LAKSHYA in which the actor AMITABH BACHCHAN said "HUM DUSHMANI ME BHI SHARAFAT RAKHTE HAIN"

JAI HIND.

[Mansoor Azam · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the absence of definitive accounts and material available on the Kargil conflict my eyes popped out wen I saw this one,
Gen V. P Malick's handsome try. But I'm afraid that it's not ab ideal unbiased account, though history is seldom written inbiased, still, as earlier I found out that generals wen they tend to write are more concerned at covering the trails rather than making the record straight.
Moreover, as the general claimed it to be a definitive account I expected it to raise a lot of haze surrounding the Kargil conflict, atleast, from one perspective, but the details are often mixed so are the chapters. Rather than going step by step and explaining it all chronologically the dates and events are mixed and I had my brain itching by chapter three.
Still it's not that bad. Must read. The author adds analytical chapters at the end which rather than giving the personal analysis I expect tow the official line.
Not a waste of bucks, surely. Finally, if you are buying this one in anticipation of some secrets and surprised that author might be sharing then chill, there's not ab iota of such stuff. Still one gets to know how military politico system works in Indian democracy and more importantly how it coped with the Kargil scenario.

[Pradeep Sahukar · Rating 4 out of 5]

General Malik has written a book to highlight the immense challenges our armed forces have to deal with and the Kargil war is an exemplary evidence of how these brave men overcome such challenges and have fought against the odds to bring laurel to our nation. Much of the chapters needs to looked at by the defence ministry to ensure we are battle ready when required. To maintain peace a nations must have is a capable and modern army navy and airforce. Good account of the war and interesting read.

[Rajkumar Jindal · Rating 4 out of 5]

General V.P. Malik was Chief of Army Staff during the Kargil Conflict and provides us with his perceptions and actions in the time of conflict. I have skipped the part where he accounts for some of the best heroic acts of war by personnel of Indian Army. Most of them are documented in the movie LOC Kargil by JP Dutta. I would go through it when I read the book again. Yes..!! The book is good enough to be read again, for it answers, that how did Kargil turn into such a mess and what we did in the aftermath. I would appreciate a few references for other books on Kargil conflict.

[PKumar Sachin · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a high level insight into the loopholes that led to peaks being captured by Pakistani infiltrators (The Surprise) to the amazing political and military resolve that resulted in a decisive victory for India, the book covers it all. It lacks the adrenaline of a war - which is understandable as the writer is a general and not a commander on the field - but it more than makes up for it by strategic details.

[Aditya Sanyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must read. The reader will get a birds eye view of what happened in Kargil, why it happened, and what should be done to prevent future Kargils. The respect I have towards the armed forces of India went up even higher. The General is not afraid to calling a spade a spade, and this is very refreshing.

[Midhun Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book. First hand account of the Kargil war from the chief of Indian army at the time. It gives the overall strategy perspective and operational level details of the conflict. The General is very straight forward and on the face to point out India's political weakness and blunders.

[Gaanappriya Mohan Yogesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very balanced and neutral description of the Kargil War . Complete analysis of the entire situation . The author Gen VP Malik will remain as one of the best Army officers in the history of Indian Army.
A must read to know facts of Kargil war

[Sreenivasa]

Unbiased war report by the Army chief himself. Great many details about Indian leadership during the war, detailed account of selfless and valorous Indian armed forces.

[Gopakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good insightful read!

[Dhaval Pandya · Rating 5 out of 5]

True account of Indian Military offensive from the Eyes of the Man in Charge. Honest and brilliant writing makes it prone to multiple reads.

[Hitarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is approx 500 pages of feeling proud about the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy for their unparalleled gallantry all along the duration of the war.

[Saket Aggarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good review on Kargil war

Excellent book from the point of view of an army general, gives insight into Indian political setup also. Overall a good read

[Jayesh Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Vivek Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

KARGIL- From Surprise to Victory by General V.P. Malik (2006)

A finest piece of war literature by someone who personally experienced it, by the then COAS General V.P. Malik. An account of the 1999 Indo-Pak war, commonly known as Kargil War of 1999 (May-July), and codenamed- Operation Vijay (Operation Badr by Pakistan Army). It was started by Pakistan army by intruding on the Indian side of the LOC in Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir and capturing high post for natural dominance.

Along with stories from the battlefield, the author also present forward the situations which led to the war, ongoing diplomatic and politico-military scenarios, hardships faced by the Indian Army on various aspects due to sudden attack whether it be on the grounds of weapons, natural obstacles and pre and during war political failures and also the post-war outcome of the war on both the nations.

This book is a compiled form of all the military, political and buriocratic aspects prevailing at that time over Indian subcontinent and world's views over it.

[Krishnan Ranganathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is a good read for those not directly associated with defence or its working, it does not provide any critical inputs about the inner working of the Indian defence apparatus. All issues discussed and commented are well known in the public space and nothing new to add. The general has been condecending to the various decisions and acts of the armed forces, of the government and has not been able to project serious shortcomings in the defence set up other than few generalisations. The maps provided are of very poor print quality and does not matchup to the descriptions within the book. On the whole an average attempt has been made while trying to keep all stakeholders happy.

[Abhijeet Parida · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book written by the Indian Army chief in 1999 starts with a good explanations into prelude to the Kargil War. He also gives us a fast paced details of the milestone and the heros of the actions. These milestones are accompanied by placed maps and images of the mountain feature that help in understanding each assault and it's challenges. The new facet that book introduced me to was the role of AWWA in the war, which has mostly been silenced under the sounds of explosion.

The book further steps into the time period beyond the actual war, on topics of diplomatic and political ramifications also touching on topic of modernisation of the armed forces.

[Abhineet Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very lacklustre book by any standard. The author does not know how to weave facts into the narrative. The author mentioned the name of various companies and platoons as if these names are the general knowledge of anyone in the country. The book would have made sense to someone from a military background.

The book is full of Clichés, and there is no strategic depth to the book. Whenever the author is talking about The concept of modern warfare or information operations, the author is merely talking and platitudes. There is also a general trend in the book wherein anything that the author does is correct.

Overall, I will not recommend this book as a good read to anyone.

[Saraswathi Sambasivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very detailed and no-nonsense account of the Kargil war. General V P Malik has described the events that led to the surprise attack and the subsequent acts of bravery by our amazing armed forces. The fact that they did not have state-of-the-art equipment, or even the protective gear for high-altitude warfare and still managed to drive the enemy out, speaks volumes of our armed forces. An amazing and in-depth read.

[Kamaljit Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth details of the war from the Indian military's view which naturally evoked a lot of emotions. To me it sounded like a very honest view of the war's ground realities.
However, i would have loved to have his political views on the overall context which he was very reluctant to touch upon on many occasions except one - he being unhappy about the elections getting declared immediately after the war temperature cooled down, even though it was not over yet.

[Asif Mahtab Utsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's generally doesn't take me this long to read a book, but this one is very underwhelming. It doesn't discuss the tactics and strategy in detail. it reads more like an opinion piece and talks more about the political history at the time more than the military history at a fault.

Overall, I learned very little from this book and do not recommend it to the readers who want to learn about the strategic and tactical framework employed during the Kargil war.