Since independence, the issue of kashmir remained unsolved. Pakistan had made many attempts to acquire it using military agrression which then turns out to be wars. The war of 1965 is a result of one such attempt. There had always been some motivation that makes Pakistan think of her superiority. So, what motivation made Pakistan to try this time ?

   It was thinking (a bad one). Let me tell you in detail. 

   The time of the 1960s was not in much favour of India. We had lost one war against China and we were still a newborn country. Our loss against China let Pakistan think of our weakness and yes we were undergoing many changes both in equipment and personnel. It means we were not stable. We learned many lessons from the defeat we got. Yet having instability, we still were capable of answering to anyone who could have enough courage to provoke India. Let’s have a look at war.

   It was 3 phase planning, the goal was to -

1.     check India's ability to react

2.     weaken India's strength by injecting mujahideen into Kashmir

3.     bottle up the Indian Army in Kashmir by sealing the supply line in the chhamb-jaurian sector in Jammu

    What let Pakistan think that she would defeat India ?
There were two reasons -

1.     India had lost the war against China

2.     Under the defence agreement of 1954, Pakistan had received 700 million dollars worth of military aid from the US

3.     A false belief about the discontent of Kashmiri people with India

It was like, India was facing his dark period and Pakistan was having her lucky draw. She had modernised her army with US weapons.

☛  First Phase of War - Indian ability to react was tested 

    Since the beginning of 1965, Pakistan had began its Haramipan. In January 1965 Pakistan started patrolling Indian territory. As I said, It was just beginning. Pakistan had many plans for the future and we were unaware & unprepared. What I mean is - In that the ‘60s period, Indian side borders in the Kutch region was defended by Police forces. Even we didn't keep an army in Kutch. In opposition, Pakistan had kept its rangers to protect its border.
On 7 April, Pak entered Indian border near kanjarkot, vigokot, biarbet, chhad bet, sardar post. under Operation Desert Hawk. In response, India sent 50 para to check Pak intrusion. Pak had strengthened her brigade with a tank regiment. On 23 April, Pak again struck 4 border posts & captured vigokot & biarbet. The hostilities were ended on 1 July by the intervention of the British PM. with this, 1st phase was completed.


☛  Second Phase - Operation Gibraltar

   It was kind of a covert infiltration through which Pakistan tried to ignite resistance movements in Kashmir. Under this Op. no. of infiltrators had entered India and the Indian XV corps took some quick measures & was able to contain the infiltrators within 15 days. To seal the entry points of infiltrators Indian Army attacked Kargil, Tangdhar & Hajipir and then the Leh sector, Tithwal, Uri and Punch. The enemy had acquired 2 strong features of Raja and Chand Tekri on 5 and 6 September. The Mirpur area on river Kishanganga was taken care of by 105 brigades. The Operation was started in that region on 25 Aug to 21 Sep during which the brigade fought many fierce battles to acquire complete dominance in the area. Operation Gibraltar failed.



☛   Third Phase- Operation Grand Slam

    On 5 Aug, around 26,000 to 33,000 Pakistani troops crossed LoC dressed as Kashmiri, which was then tipped off to Indian Army by locals. They crossed the cease-fire line on 15 Aug. By the end of Aug, Pakistan had made progress in areas such as Tithwal, Uri and Poonch and India had captured the Haji Pir pass, 8 km into Pakistan-administered Kashmir. At 3:45, on 1 Sep Pakistan launched its final attack which Indian Army wasn't expecting. We were unprepared. The ratio of Pak troops was higher. Their prime goal was to capture Akhnoor (Jammu) to cut off severe communication and supply routes. Indian airforce responded next day and slow down the attack. In The final attack, Pakistan had superiority in artillery, armour & infantry. They almost won in their mind. 191 Brigade of our could not stop 3 side attack and retreated to Akhnoor on 4 Sep. Pak captured Kargil-leh road, India launched massive anti-infiltration operation. The infiltrators were forced out of the area by August end. The Pakistani army chief at the time was proudly believing that "Hindu morale would not stand more than a couple of hand blow at right time & place." By that time, op Gibraltar had failed. Here comes the twist, India knew that they could not stop the powerful advance of Pak in J&K and Pak was also convinced that India would defend only and not attack but Indian Army was preparing for the surprise that was to be given to the Pak. India opened 3 new war fronts in Rajasthan, Sialkot and Lahore. This made Pakistan divert her attack as they had more troops commissioned in JK. The operation Grand slam failed, they could not take control over Akhnoor.

Lahore Sector –

This sector was planned to tackle by 3 divisions of the xi corps (15,7,4). The area to be covered is north from Pathankot to Suratgarh in the south. The attack then again had to be split into 3 Areas –

1)    Northen sector along GT road axis – This operation was done by the 15th division of xi. Initially, it went well and captured Dograi in the first sweep. The Pak army held the bridges over the canal and blew up those she could not defend, still 3 Jat crossed the Ichhogil canal and captured Batapore (west side of canal). 15th div could not capitalise on these initial gains and fell back when the Pak troops retaliated with good armour support. The 2nd attempt was made on 10 Sep, brought limited success and captured Dograi by 3 JAT. In this action, 150 PAK soldiers were killed and 100 made prisoners.

2)    Central Sector along khalra barki axis – This task was taken by the 7th division. This operation went well. The 7th division advanced the khalra barki axis with great dash and completed its task by 11 Sep. The most difficult action during advance was fought at Barki, which was protected by strong bunkers. The brave 4 Sikh broke all resistance and captured Barki on 10 Sep at 21:30 hrs. Both sides had faced heavy casualties.

3)    Southern sector along the Khem Karan-kasur axis – The 4 mountain division had the responsibility of this task. This sector was not going well as there was gain initially but PAK was prepared and ready with a powerful offensive. They planned to destroy the xi corps. The 4 mountain had two responsibility

a)    To capture PAK territory east of Ichhogil

b)    Contain possible enemy attacks on the Kasur Khem Karan axis.

   The 4 division could not check the powerful attack at that time but fell back in asal uttar. It now comprised of 3½ battalions as the 7 brigade had been rendered offensive ineffective in the 1st PAK attack but the division was now occupying a well-defended position with well-sited artillery & armour in support. Pak could not capture it. On the eighth night, Pakistani forces attempted to flank the right-hand position with an armoured brigade, but four grenadiers once more stood firm to repel the Patton attack. In this combat, Havildar Abdul Hamid alone destroyed two Pak tanks and damaged one. A second attempt by a Pakistani armoured brigade to flank the Indian armour regiments on the Mahmoodpura-Dibbipura axis from the left failed because they were surrounded on three sides by the Indian regiments. 72 Pattons were among the 97 tanks that Pakistan lost at the battle of Asal Uttar. There were some attempts by the Indians to retake the lost land, but Pakistanis remained in control of it until the very end. The end of hostilities denied the Indians the chance to defeat the Pakistanis once more. The right flank of XI Corps was protected by the 29 Infantry Brigade Group. It launched an attack on Dera Baba Nanak and captured it on 7 September. Indian XI Corps generally succeeded in its mission to capture areas east of Ichhogil Canal except in the Khem Karan, sector.


               

Sialkot Sector - To ease the pressure on another front was opened by the indian army. IA launched 1 corps on 8 sep. - 

               a)     26 infantry division carried a diversionary move in the north towards Sialkot

b)    6 mountain division attacked the charwa-maharajake area and captured it.

c)    14 mountain division established a bridgehead in the Ikhnal area further to the east.

This set the stage for the advance of 1 armoured division, They moved out on 8 Sep, and bad weather hindered the progress. Commander chose another axis to mount an attack on Phillora on 11 Sep. While the armoured brigade was engaging the pak armour, 43 lorried brigade captured Phillora in spirited action. Pak lost 61 tanks. The armour moved to capture Chawinda on 14 Sep, Pak armour was already concentrated, and little progress was gained, still captured the Jassaran & Batur Dograndi. Another effort by 1 Corps to capture Chawinda on the 18th night met with limited success. The corps, however, succeeded in capturing about 466 sq kilometres of Pak territory. It destroyed and captured about 180 Pak tanks. In the battle of Asal Uttar (Real Answer), Pak lost a total of 180 out of which 100 were Patton tanks (100 pattons v/s 32 Indian tanks). The area today is known as Patton Nagar.

Patton Tanks


Photo – Indian Defence review
                           

Rajsthan Sector – To tie down the enemy in Sind, this front was opened.

a)     11 infantry division carried operations in the Barmer-Hyderabad axis.

b)    On 8 Sep, Gadra was occupied & Pak rangers were driven out from many areas of the desert.

c)    Ding Dong battle continued till the end of the war, India made 388 km square gain.

At the end of the war, Pak had gained 550 km^2 and India had 1920 km^2. India had lost 3000 while Pak lost 3800 soldiers in War. The war ended with UN efforts on 23 Sep 1965 with Tashkent Declaration –  “ to Disengagement of forces and their withdrawal to the position occupied by them before 5 Aug 1965.”

 




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