‘Miyan Sahab Ne Joote Khane Akele Bhej Diya’: When Pakistan DGMO Came Alone To End The Kargil War

As today marks the 26 years of the Kargil Vijay Diwas marking India’s victory against Pakistan. On July 4, 1999, when Pakistani troops began retreating under pressure, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. Vajpayee asked Sharif to send his Director General Military Operations (DGMO) for a meeting with the Indian DGMO to discuss a full withdrawal of Pakistani forces beyond the Line of Control (LoC). 

Following this, Lt Gen Nirmal Chander Vij (retd) and then-deputy DGMO Brig Mohan Bhandari (retd) met Pakistan DGMO Lt Gen Tauqir Zia (retd) at Attari on July 11.

Pak DGMO Attended Alone, Breaking Military Protocol

Lt Gen (retd) Mohan Bhandari, who later retired as a senior Army officer, recalled the unusual meeting a day before Kargil Vijay Diwas. He said Zia arrived alone, breaking established protocol. “As per the schedule, we left Delhi at 6.30 am on July 11 for Amritsar, where we reached around 8.15 am.

From there, we boarded a chopper to Attari,” Bhandari said. “When I went to check on the Pakistani side, I saw Zia standing by himself, smoking, his cap askew. I asked him, ‘Ye kya hai Tauqir… akele?’ He replied, ‘Kya karun? Miyan Saab ne joote khane ke liye akele bhej diya.'”

Lt Gen Bhandari noted that Indian protocol does not allow a DGMO to attend such talks without a delegation. He asked Zia to call Pakistani Rangers from the border post to maintain basic formality. Three officers then joined Zia.

“We deliberately made them wait for 10 minutes as we all were angry with what they did in Kargil amid the ongoing peace talks,” he said. The meeting lasted three hours. “During the meeting, our DGMO gave them directions on the Dos and Don’ts while fully retreating beyond LoC. Zia and his three associates just took notes without saying anything.”

Pakistan Refused To Honour Agreed Conditions

The Indian side asked Pakistan to avoid laying landmines or launching further attacks during the retreat. However, Bhandari stated that Pakistan violated the agreement. “Against the accepted conditions, they continued to attack our troops in various skirmishes,” he said. India then responded by carrying out heavy shelling across LoC from July 15 to July 24. “It was only then that they fully pulled back, and the conflict officially ended on July 25. If they had accepted the conditions in the first place without further violence, it would have ended by July 16 or 17,” Bhandari added.

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