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July 6, 1999
US EDITION
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Government blames UF regime for defensive lapseTara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi With the Opposition alleging that defensive lapses were the root cause of the Kargil conflict, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is preparing the ground for its predecessors to share the blame. Top defence ministry officials told rediff.com on condition of anonymity that the government had decided to come out with the truth about the causes of the conflict. According to these officials, when the United Front government led by H D Deve Gowda was in power, India and Pakistan reached an agreement that their troops would not man the high positions along the Line of Control in the Kargil sector during the winter months. The successor UF government of Inder Kumar Gujral endorsed this agreement. The reasoning was that heavy snowfall in these areas makes it almost impossible for the troops to stay there in any case. The officials pointed out that this was not the first time Pakistani forces had sneaked onto Tiger Hill, Tololing Ridge, and other peaks in the Kargil sector. Earlier too, they had sneaked into these areas and built makeshift bunkers, which eventually took concrete shape. Taking advantage of the Indians' trust, the Pakistanis sneaked into the areas again last November. Thereafter, they began providing guidance through radio transmitters to the artillery guns in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. This is why the intruders were reluctant to abandon the high positions on the Indian side of the LoC. But the officials stressed that the conflict had taught India some valuable lessons.
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