As Pakistani troops began pulling back under pressure in early July 1999 during the Kargil War, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee phoned his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on July 4.
He asked that Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) meet the Indian DGMO for discussions on a complete withdrawal beyond the Line of Control (LoC).
Following Vajpayee’s instructions, then-DGMO Lt Gen Nirmal Chander Vij (retd), along with deputy DGMO Brig Mohan Bhandari (retd), travelled to Attari on July 11 to meet Pakistan’s DGMO Lt Gen Tauqir Zia (retd).
Bhandari, now retired as a Lt General and living in Ranikhet, recalled a surprising sight: Zia had come alone. “As per the schedule, we left Delhi at 6.30 am and reached Amritsar by 8.15 am. From there, we took a chopper to Attari. When I went to check on the Pakistani side, I saw Zia standing alone, smoking, his cap tilted,” he told Times Of India.
Bhandari, who had met Zia earlier during the Siachen talks, greeted him and asked, “Ye kya hai Tauqir... akele?” (How come you are alone?). Zia replied, “Kya karun? Miyan Saab ne joote khane ke liye akele bhej diya.” (What could I have done? Miyan Saab sent me alone to take the blows.)
‘Miyan Saab’, Bhandari clarified, was Nawaz Sharif. He added that protocol didn’t permit the Indian DGMO to meet his Pakistani counterpart without an accompanying delegation. “I asked Zia to call some Pak Rangers from the border, just for formality. Three officers joined him eventually. Still, we made them wait for ten minutes; we were angry at what had happened in Kargil, especially during peace talks.”
The meeting lasted around three hours. “Our DGMO gave clear instructions for a full retreat beyond the LoC, what to do and what not to do. Zia and his officers took notes silently. When asked if they had any doubts, Zia just said, ‘No doubt, ” Bhandari told TOI.
After a quiet lunch hosted by the Indian side, Zia and the three officers left.
The veteran, who served nearly 40 years in the Army, said the Indian DGMO had clearly told the Pakistanis not to lay landmines while retreating, but they “did the exact opposite.”
“Against the accepted conditions, they continued to attack our troops in various skirmishes, and we decided to teach them a lesson by carrying out heavy shelling on their posts across the LoC from July 15 to 24. It was only then that they fully pulled back, and the conflict officially ended on July 25. If they had accepted the conditions in the first place without further violence, it would have ended by July 16 or 17,” said Bhandari.
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