Written by Vishnu Som | Updated: Jul 19, 2016 20:57 IST
Story Highlights
At height of Kargil War, Air Force made plans to bomb Pakistan
Fighter jets were assigned targets, then told to stand down
NDTV accesses Air Force records which detail plans for attack
New Delhi:
In the early hours of June 13, 1999, at the height of the Kargil War, Indian Air Force fighter pilots were minutes away from launching a full-fledged air attack deep inside Pakistan. Targets had been assigned, route maps finalised; personal revolvers to be carried by pilots had been loaded with ammunition and Pakistani currency collected, for use if pilots had to eject on the other side of the Line of Control and orchestrate an escape.
These plans, laid out in documents of the Indian Air Force accessed exclusively by NDTV, show that fighter pilots were minutes away from crossing the Line of Control or de facto border in Kashmir on bombing missions, a move which would have likely escalated the controlled Kargil conflict into a full-fledged war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Air Force's plans for an unmitigated attack were the result of collapsed talks in Delhi between Jaswant Singh, then Foreign Minister, and his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz. On a mission to negotiate the end of the war to Delhi, Mr Aziz had been given clear terms - withdraw Pakistani intruders from the Kargil mountains, abandon the demand for redrawing the Line of Control or de factor border in Kashmir, urgently restore the status quo by accepting the Line of Control as it had been defined for decades, and punish those who tortured six Indian soldiers, including Captain Saurabh Kalia, whose mutilated body had been returned with the bodies of the jawans he was leading in an operation in North Kashmir when they were captured by Pakistani soldiers.
In the end, the talks were deadlocked. New Delhi had had enough.
In all, 16 fighter jets were to be deployed across enemy lines in this massive attack
What was about to follow is laid out in an official record of the plans of the Air Force, accessed exclusively by NDTV. "On the 12th [of June], Sartaj Aziz went back after a failed visit to India. All pilots were called back at 1600 by Gupta, who had news for us. CATOs [Command Air Tasking Orders] had come for a pre-emptive strike at dawn on 13 Jun," reads the Squadron Diary of the Air Force's 17 Squadron, the "Golden Arrows", a formation that flew MiG 21s from the Srinagar Air Force base.
"We were to do a 4 ac [aircraft] bombing mission in POK [Pakistan Occupied Kashmir] and BDA [Bomb Damage Assessment] of Chaklala [a major Pakistani Air Force Airbase in Rawalpindi.] Tony, Pradeep, Chou & Doc planned for first mission and Dhali, Gupta for the second. Pal was maha miffed at being left out," the diary elaborates.
Assigned their targets, the pilots then went about the business of preparing for their mission: "We all returned at night after making Wiznavs [software used to calculate routes], golas [loading bullets into personal revolvers], maps and collecting Pak currency."
The Air Force's plans for the attack were the result of collapsed talks with Pakistan in Delhi.
The clock was ticking. Within hours, the Indian Air Force would launch its first attacks in Pakistan since the 1971 war, aerial attacks against a country that may have had nuclear weapons in its inventory.
"At 0430 on 13th [June] morning, we reported to the sqn [squadron], ready for war. But it was NO GO - EXORs (Execution Orders) had not been received. We stood on standby till morning, then finally stood down at 1230."
The "Golden Arrows" were not the only squadron on the verge of flying into Pakistan in June 1999. Speaking to NDTV, a former MiG-21 pilot deployed in the region has also confirmed receiving orders to fly across the Line of Control. The pilot, who does not want to be identified, has said, "I was having dinner. We were sent to the base operations room. There was a gentleman from Command. He said `the balloon is going up in the morning, you
Story Highlights
At height of Kargil War, Air Force made plans to bomb Pakistan
Fighter jets were assigned targets, then told to stand down
NDTV accesses Air Force records which detail plans for attack
New Delhi:
In the early hours of June 13, 1999, at the height of the Kargil War, Indian Air Force fighter pilots were minutes away from launching a full-fledged air attack deep inside Pakistan. Targets had been assigned, route maps finalised; personal revolvers to be carried by pilots had been loaded with ammunition and Pakistani currency collected, for use if pilots had to eject on the other side of the Line of Control and orchestrate an escape.
These plans, laid out in documents of the Indian Air Force accessed exclusively by NDTV, show that fighter pilots were minutes away from crossing the Line of Control or de facto border in Kashmir on bombing missions, a move which would have likely escalated the controlled Kargil conflict into a full-fledged war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Air Force's plans for an unmitigated attack were the result of collapsed talks in Delhi between Jaswant Singh, then Foreign Minister, and his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz. On a mission to negotiate the end of the war to Delhi, Mr Aziz had been given clear terms - withdraw Pakistani intruders from the Kargil mountains, abandon the demand for redrawing the Line of Control or de factor border in Kashmir, urgently restore the status quo by accepting the Line of Control as it had been defined for decades, and punish those who tortured six Indian soldiers, including Captain Saurabh Kalia, whose mutilated body had been returned with the bodies of the jawans he was leading in an operation in North Kashmir when they were captured by Pakistani soldiers.
In the end, the talks were deadlocked. New Delhi had had enough.
In all, 16 fighter jets were to be deployed across enemy lines in this massive attack
What was about to follow is laid out in an official record of the plans of the Air Force, accessed exclusively by NDTV. "On the 12th [of June], Sartaj Aziz went back after a failed visit to India. All pilots were called back at 1600 by Gupta, who had news for us. CATOs [Command Air Tasking Orders] had come for a pre-emptive strike at dawn on 13 Jun," reads the Squadron Diary of the Air Force's 17 Squadron, the "Golden Arrows", a formation that flew MiG 21s from the Srinagar Air Force base.
"We were to do a 4 ac [aircraft] bombing mission in POK [Pakistan Occupied Kashmir] and BDA [Bomb Damage Assessment] of Chaklala [a major Pakistani Air Force Airbase in Rawalpindi.] Tony, Pradeep, Chou & Doc planned for first mission and Dhali, Gupta for the second. Pal was maha miffed at being left out," the diary elaborates.
Assigned their targets, the pilots then went about the business of preparing for their mission: "We all returned at night after making Wiznavs [software used to calculate routes], golas [loading bullets into personal revolvers], maps and collecting Pak currency."
The Air Force's plans for the attack were the result of collapsed talks with Pakistan in Delhi.
The clock was ticking. Within hours, the Indian Air Force would launch its first attacks in Pakistan since the 1971 war, aerial attacks against a country that may have had nuclear weapons in its inventory.
"At 0430 on 13th [June] morning, we reported to the sqn [squadron], ready for war. But it was NO GO - EXORs (Execution Orders) had not been received. We stood on standby till morning, then finally stood down at 1230."
The "Golden Arrows" were not the only squadron on the verge of flying into Pakistan in June 1999. Speaking to NDTV, a former MiG-21 pilot deployed in the region has also confirmed receiving orders to fly across the Line of Control. The pilot, who does not want to be identified, has said, "I was having dinner. We were sent to the base operations room. There was a gentleman from Command. He said `the balloon is going up in the morning, you
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