A retired army general recently claimed that India did not really win the Kargil war. Lt General (retd) Kishen Pal, who headed the 15 Corps based in Srinagar at the time, told NDTV channel that India had failed to consolidate its tactical gains and therefore had actually lost the war with Pakistan. Pal said though India gained some tactical victories and regained the territory it had lost to the armed intruders, it had all come at the cost of 587 precious lives. And thereafter, India had failed to consolidate its gains politically, diplomatically or militarily, he said.

Indian forces had flushed out Pakistani soldiers who had intruded into Kargil in a conflict that lasted from May to July 1999. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government had, however, refrained from escalating the conflict into a full-scale war, inviting criticism from some quarters that it had lost an opportunity to deter Pakistan effectively. 

Especially in view of Pakistan's brazen support to terrorists operating against India thereafter, the question arises whether Pal is right. Did India lose the war, despite winning the battle in Kargil?