Kargil lessons shaped Operation Sindoor: Ex-army chief General VP Malik

Gen V P Malik meeting frontline troops in Kargil in 1999.CHANDIGARH: Twenty-seven years after leading the Army during the 1999 Kargil War, former Army chief General VP Malik (retd) said the conflict's hard lessons - from equipment shortages and intelligence gaps to the need for self-reliance - transformed India's military capabilities, enabling the precision strikes on Pakistani airfields during last year's Operation Sindoor without crossing the border."The biggest operational lessons were the need to strengthen intelligence, surveillance and achieve 'atmanirbharta (self-reliance)' in military hardware," Gen Malik told TOI in an interview ahead of the 27th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas. Those lessons, he said, shaped India's military preparedness over the next two decades.Citing Operat