EARLY MAY: Reports of infiltrators atop heights of Kargil
MAY 14: Army patrol of six men, including Capt Saurabh Kalia, head up for reconnaissance and is captured by Pakistan troops MAY 26: Indian Air Force launches air strikes MAY 27: Flt Lt (now Wg Cdr) K Nachiketa’s MiG-27 goes down, the officer is taken prisoner of war. Sq Ldr Ajay Ahuja killed after his MiG 21 is shot down
MAY 31: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee says it’s a “war-like situation” in Kargil JUNE 3: Nachiketa repatriated to India
JUNE 5: India releases the documents recovered from three Pakistani soldiers indicating Pakistan’s involvement in the war
JUNE 10: Pakistan returns mutilated bodies of six Indian soldiers, including Capt Saurabh Kalia. The six-man patrol from 4 Jat had gone missing in the Kaksar sector on May 15. JUNE 12: Deadlock at first crisis-time meeting between foreign ministers Jaswant Singh and Sartaj Aziz in Delhi. Aziz told intruders must leave
JUNE 15: US President Bill Clinton urges the Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to withdraw troops from Kargil
JUNE 20: Capt Vikram Batra, who immortalised the famous line, “Ye Dil Maange More” falls to enemy bullets when Point 5140, the hill he had captured, came under heavy fire. Despite being injured, he carried on inspiring his men to recapture the peak JULY 4: Tiger Hill captured. For the first time in India’s history, a battle was covered live by TV channels. Nawaz
Sharif meets Clinton in Washington JULY 5: Sharif announces pull-out of Pakistani troops from Kargil JULY 11: Pakistan begins pull out; India captures key peaks in Batalik JULY 14: India declares operation Vijay a success
JULY 26: Kargil war comes to an end. India ann