New Delhi, July 31 -- The Kargil War, as it was called, was in fact only a phase of intense confrontation in the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict which, thanks to Pakistan, has been ongoing since the late 1980s. India responded to the massive intrusion in May 1999, almost eight months after it began, for which Pakistan's preparation started much earlier.

In 1997, when India was celebrating 50 years of Independence, the Pakistan Army marked it with an artillery bombardment of the Kargil area, including the Srinagar-Leh road. A diary captured from Pakistan Army's young Lieutenant Mazullah Khan Sumbal by an Indian Army unit during the May-July 1999 Operation Pawan (the codename for the Kargil War) recorded that he had reported to his newly r...