The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict,[note (I)] was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh (erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir) and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay (Sanskrit: विजय, lit.'Victory'), which was the codename of the Indian military operation in the region.[18] The Indian Air Force acted jointly with the Indian Army to flush out the Pakistan Army and paramilitary troops from vacated Indian positions along the LoC,[19] in what was designated as Operation Safed Sagar (Hindi: ऑपरेशन सफेद सागर, lit.'White Sea').
The conflict was triggered by the infiltration of Pakistani troops—disguised as Kashmiri militants—into strategic positions on the Indian side of the LoC,[20][21] which serves as the de facto border between the two countries in the disputed region of Kashmir. During its initial stages, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan's Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed the involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces,[22][23][24] led by General Ashraf Rashid.[25] The Indian Army, later supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured a majority of the positions on the Indian side of the LoC; facing international diplomatic opposition, Pakistani forces withdrew from all remaining Indian positions along the LoC.
^Tavares, Rodrigo (2006). Understanding Regional Peace and Security. Göteborg University. p. 297. ISBN978-9187380679. the US State Department quoted the Pakistani military casualties at 700, but according to the then PM Nawaz Sharif (quoted in Gulf News, February 2002), the entire Northern Light Infantry of Pakistan was wiped out during the conflict claiming 2,700 lives.
^Malik, V. P. (2006). Kargil: From Surprise to Victory. HarperCollins. p. 342. ISBN9788172236359. According to our intelligence estimates, their Army suffered over 737 casualties, primarily due to our artillery fire.
^Pubby, Manu (19 November 2010). "Kargil: Pak suffered most casualties at Batalik". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018. Indian records say a total of 249 bodies of Pakistani soldiers were recovered during the battle but estimates of total enemy casualties is put around 1000–1200.
^Kanwal, Gurmeet (2009). "Pakistan's Strategic Blunder at Kargil"(PDF). CLAWS Journal: 72. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2018. The army recovered 249 dead bodies of Pakistani regular soldiers from the area of operations in Kargil; 244 dead bodies were buried as per military norms with religious rites; five bodies were accepted by Pakistan and taken back
^It is also sometimes referred to as Operation Vijay Kargil so as to distinguish it from Operation Vijay, the 1961 operation by the military of India that led to the capture of Goa, Daman and Diu and Anjidiv Islands.