After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, there had been a long period of relatively few direct armed conflicts involving the military forces of the two neighbours – not withstanding the efforts of both nations to control the Siachen Glacier by establishing military outposts on the surrounding mountains ridges and the resulting military skirmishes in the 1980s. During the 1990s, however, escalating tension and conflict due to separatist activities in Kashmir, as well as the conducting of nuclear tests by both countries in 1998, led to an increasingly belligerent atmosphere.

On this day, 25 years ago, India successfully reclaimed the high outposts lost to Pakistani intruders, marking a decisive victory in the Kargil War. To honour the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives, the nation observes Kargil Vijay Diwas every year on July 26.