C OVER STORY
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
T
he Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, also known as the
Second Kashmir War, was the culmination of a
series of skirmishes that occurred between April
1965 and September 1965 between India and Pakistan.
The war was the second fought between India and Pakistan over the region of Kashmir, the first having been
fought in 1947. The war lasted five weeks, resulted in
thousands of casualties on both sides and ended in a
United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire. It is generally accepted that the war began following the failure of
Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar which was designed to
infiltrate and invade Jammu and Kashmir.
Much of the war was fought by the countries' land forces
in the region of Kashmir and along the International Border (IB) between
India and Pakistan. This war saw
the largest amassing of troops in
Kashmir, a number
that was overshadowed only during
the
2001-2002
military
standoff
between India and
Pakistan. Most of
the war was fought
on land by each
country's infantry
and armored units,
with
substantial
backing from their
air forces. Many
details of this war,
like those of most Indo-Pakistani Wars, remain unclear
and riddled with media biases.
Pre-war escalation
Since Independence, both nations were in contention
over several issues, primarily on border disputes. Kashmir was a major divisive issue between both the nations,
but other border disputes existed, most notably over
the Rann of Kutch, a barren region in the Indian state
of Gujarat. Though the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh was integrated into India, its borders, especially
in the marshlands to the west were ambiguous. This
gave rise to a dispute between Pakistan and India. On
March 20 1965, and again in April 1965, fighting broke
out between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch.
Initially involving the border police from both nations, the
disputed area soon witnessed intermittent skirmishes
between the countries' armed forces. In June the same
year, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson successfully
persuaded both countries to end hostilities and set up a
tribunal to resolve the dispute. The verdict, which came
later in 1968, saw Pakistan gaining 350 square miles
(900 km²) of the Rann of Kutch, as against its original
claim of 3500 sq miles.[6]
After its successes in the Rann of Kutch, Pakistan, under the leadership of General Ayub Khan, is said to have
believed that the Indian Army was unable to defend itself against a quick military campaign in the disputed
territory of Kashmir, following a loss to China in 1962.
[7] Pakistan believed
that the population of
Kashmir was generally discontented with
Indian rule and that
a resistance movement could be ignited
by a few infiltrating
saboteurs. This was
codenamed Operation
Gibraltar.[8] However,
the Pakistani infiltrators were soon discovered, aided primarily
by the local Kashmiris
themselves and the
entire operation ended
in a complete disaster.
For its part, Pakistan
claimed to have been
concerned by the attempts of India to absorb Kashmir
- a state that Pakistan claims as "disputed", into the Indian union by way Articles 356 and 357 of the Indian
Constitution allowing the President of India to declare
President's Rule in the disputed state.
The war
On August 15, 1965, Indian forces crossed the ceasefire
line and launched an attack on Pakistan administered
Kashmir. Pakistani reports cite this attack as unprovoked.[9] Indian reports cite the attack as a response to
the massive armed infiltrations by Pakistan.[10] Initially,
the Indian Army met with considerable success in the
northern sector (Kashmir). After launching a prolonged
artillery barrage against Pakistan, India was able to cap-
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