Kargil diaries: When Pakistan's DGMO told India, 'Kya karun? Miyan Saab ne joote khane ke liye akele bhej diya'
As Pakistani troops began to retreat under Indian military pressure in early July 1999, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a significant move. On July 4, he called his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, urging him to send his DGMO for direct talks with the Indian side. The goal: to ensure a full withdrawal of Pakistani forces beyond the Line of Control (LoC).
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As per Vajpayee's direction, India's DGMO at the time, Lt Gen Nirmal Chander Vij (retd), along with his deputy Brig Mohan Bhandari (retd), met Pakistan's Lt Gen Tauqir Zia on July 11 at Attari.
Speaking to TOI on the occasion of
Kargil Vijay Diwas
, Bhandari recalled being surprised to see Zia standing alone on the Pakistani side of the border. 'He was smoking, his cap slightly askew. I had met him a few times earlier during the Siachen talks, so I asked, 'Yeh kya hai, Tauqir… akele?''
Zia's reply stunned him: 'Kya karun? Miyan Saab ne joote khane ke liye akele bhej diya.'
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'Miyan Saab', Bhandari clarified, was Nawaz Sharif.
It was highly unusual for a DGMO to attend such a meeting without a delegation. Indian officials asked Zia to at least call in a few Pakistan Rangers officers for formality. Three officers joined him shortly, but the Indian side still made them wait for 10 minutes before beginning talks, partly out of anger over the betrayal during peace negotiations.
According to Bhandari, the meeting lasted three hours. 'Our DGMO listed out clear dos and don'ts for the Pakistani side during their retreat. Zia and his men quietly noted down everything. When asked if they had any doubts, Zia simply said, 'No doubt'.'
After lunch hosted by the Indian side, the Pakistani delegation quietly returned.
But despite the agreed conditions, especially the request to avoid laying landmines during withdrawal, Pakistan allegedly violated the terms.
'They laid landmines and even launched attacks on our soldiers during their retreat,' said Bhandari. 'In response, we launched heavy shelling on their posts from July 15 to 24. Only then did they fully pull back.'
The conflict officially ended on July 25. 'Had they followed the instructions from the beginning, it would've ended around July 16 or 17,' he added.
The episode offers a rare glimpse into the tense diplomacy and military coordination that helped end the Kargil conflict.
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