Kargil: Sharif’s policy of plausible deniability has not worked. His lies are an open book for all to see. 

General Pervez Musharraf has stated that kargil was a defensive measure to prevent India from pulling anohter Siachin and then holding on to it. The Kashmiri forces captures more than 300 peaks and liberated them.

Mr. Sharif lied to President Clinton and even to Prime Minister Vaypayee. Mr. Sharif went to the extent of handing over edited but taped conversaitons between Pakistani commanders to the Indians. After the coup Mr. Sharif and his son were in touch with the Indians.

Mr. Sharif has lied about Kargil. Mr. Sharif has denied that he was even aware of Kargil. Mr. Shairf should have waited for a few more weeks, and there would have been no Kashmir problem to solve. At some juncture, he ran to White House and surrendered in front of Mr. Clinton who treated him in a horribly humiliating manner.

Mr. Sharif was not even allowed into the White House, and had to beg the Clinton’s to get a photo op in the White House.  Right after the coup, he ran to India to get Vaypayee to support him in his struggle against Mr. Musharraf. Mr. Sharif then made a deal with Saudi Arabia to escape incarceration. On his return he turned to blood feuds with the army, Mr. Musharraf, the MQM and now with the PPP. His politics of hate and ethnicity will not succeed.

Here is an excerpt from Strobe talbot’s book about Kargil:

“Kargil War between India and Pakistan took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir. According to India the cause of the war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control, which serves as the de facto border between the two states. During and directly after the war, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces. The Indian Army, supported by the Indian Air Force, attacked the Pakistani positions and, with international diplomatic support, eventually forced a Pakistani withdrawal across the Line of Control (LoC). 

At the height of the Kargil conflict, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is said to have told then US President Bill Clinton that he was prepared to help resolve the crisis if India committed to settle the ‘larger issue’ of Kashmir in a specific time-frame, but the American leader snubbed him saying it would amount to a ‘nuclear blackmail.’ When Sharif visited Washington in 1999 to discuss Kargil with Clinton, he insisted, ‘I am prepared to help resolve the current crisis in Kargil but India must commit to resolve the larger issue in a specific time-frame,’ former US deputy secretary of State Strobe Talbot writes in his new book Engaging India – Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb.  

‘Clinton came as close as I had ever seen to blowing up in a meeting with a foreign leader,’ and told Sharif, ‘If I were the Indian Prime Minister, I would never do that. I would be crazy to do it. It would be nuclear blackmail. If you proceed with this line, I will have no leverage with them. If I tell you what you think you want me to say, I will be stripped of all influence with the Indians.’ ‘I am not – and the Indians are not – going to let you get away with blackmail, and I will not permit any characterization of this meeting that suggests I am giving in to blackmail,’ Talbot writes, adding, Clinton also refuted Sharif’s accusation that the Indians were the instigators of the crisis and intransigents in the ongoing standoff. When Sharif insisted he had to have something to show for his trip to the US beyond unconditional surrender over Kargil, Clinton pointed to the dangers of nuclear war if Pakistan did not return to its previous positions. Seeing they were getting nowhere, Clinton told Sharif he had a statement ready to release to press that would lay all the blame for the crisis on Pakistan. ‘Sharif was ashen.’  

‘Clinton had worked himself back into real anger – his face flushed, eyes narrowed, lips pursed, cheek muscles pulsing, fists clenched. He said it was crazy enough for Sharif to have let his military violate the Line of Control, start a border war with India, and now prepare nuclear forces (U.S. had received intelligence Pakistan was preparing nuclear forces for attack against India) for action,’ Talbot says in his book. ‘Sharif seemed beaten, physically and emotionally’ and denied he had given any order with regard to nuclear weaponry. Taking a break, Clinton spoke to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee over phone and told him what had happened until then. ‘What do you want me to say?’ Vajpayee asked. ‘Nothing,’ Clinton replied, he just wanted to show he was holding.”

‘Sharif offered to back Kargil intrusion only if it succeeds’ 3 Jun, 2008, 1155 hrs IST, PTI

Islamabad: Former premier Nawaz Sharif was kept in the dark initially about the Pakistan Army’s plan to intrude into the Kargil but he later gave conditional support to the operation, a former aide of President Pervez Musharraf has said.Lt Gen (retired) Jamshed Gulzar Kayani, who served in the Inter-Services Intelligence and commanded the crucial Rawalpindi-based 10 Corps, said he believed Sharif was “not carried on board” during the initial stages of the intrusion into Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops in early 1999.

Kayani, who was then in the ISI, subsequently briefed the former premier on the Kargil issue at a high-level meeting on May 17, 1999. Sharif told Musharraf, who was then the army chief, that he would support the operation “as long as you succeed”.

However, Sharif also told Musharraf that it would be very difficult for him to back the operation “if there were reverses”, Kayani said in an interview aired on the Geo TV channel last night.

“In my individual opinion, he (Sharif) was not carried on board. If you go in for such an operation, you have to bring the chief executive on board. You have to give him comprehensive briefings on each and every step (as the Kargil operation) could have opened out into an all out war,” said Kayani, who is now part of a group of retired military officers pressing for Musharraf’s ouster from office.

Reacting to Kayani’s comments, Sharif said that Kargil was a “misadventure” by Musharraf who gave different versions of the operations to him and the army.

“Musharraf made a blunder. It was a misadventure. He told something else to the army and something else to me,” the PML (N) leader told an Indian TV channel.

Kayani also said that the persons who planned the Kargil operation did not anticipate a strong response from the Indian military, including the use of air power.

Despite the “gallantry of troops and young officers”, Pakistan suffered “reverses due to the intense response” by India, he said.

In the case of any military operation of the scale of Kargil, which could have expanded into all-out war, there are comprehensive briefings. The ultimate responsibility is of the Prime Minister, his clearance is a must for every step.”

During the briefing on May 17, 1999, Sharif was “uncertain” and asked the “high-profile” personalities present if it would “be correct to give the green signal for the Kargil operation”, Kayani said.

He quoted then Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz as saying, “Sir, I will not be able to support it on the diplomatic milieu.” Certain generals present at the meeting also raised questions as to whether the Pakistan Army could logistically support the operation.

After consulting everyone present at the meeting, Sharif gave Musharraf the “green signal” and said the Kargil operation could go on “as long as you succeed”.

Kayani added: “But in cases of reverses, Nawaz Sharif said it will be very difficult for me to support the operation.”

The bodies of some dead Pakistani soldiers were never found and Sharif finally went to the US to work out an understanding to end the conflict as he wanted to save the dignity and respect of the Pakistan Army, Kayani said.

Kayani said an inquiry should be held to settle the issue of whether Sharif was aware when the Kargil operation was launched.

“Musharraf says Nawaz Sharif was carried on board, (so) let there be an inquiry. There should definitely be an inquiry, though it should be a closed-door inquiry as the matter involves a lot of very sensitive issues that should not come out in public.”

At the same time, Kayani said Kargil “was not the brainchild of Musharraf“. A similar military operation had been considered earlier too and had even been broached to Benazir Bhutto during her tenure as Prime Minister.

The Kargil event was also “the main reason for the differences which cropped up between Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf“, he said. After the “Kargil debacle”, Musharraf feared he “would be booted out” and Sharif “was sure there would be a coup against him”, he added.