Kargil War took place between May 4 and July 26 1999 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil district. The war started after Pakistani troops and terrorists infiltrated high ground in Kargil District, across the line of control in India. The high ground was a key location for the Pakistani Army as the army could impact the Srinagar-Leh highway and disrupt the transport of materials to the Indian army stationed at the Siachen glacier, a disputed area between India and Pakistan, permitting the occupation of Kashmir, which has been a disputed region between India and Pakistan since the division of the two nations during independence with each nation claiming the region to be their own.
The Kargil War was significant not only in that the war was the first significant military intervention between India and Pakistan since Indian support in the division of Bangladesh but also the war was a significant crossroads in cementing US-India relations. After the United States established that Pakistan was the instigator of the conflict and had violated the Line of Control near Kargil District, Bill Clinton, the US president at the time, publicly supported India and accused the Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, of risking a larger war with India with both nations being nuclear powers. Furthermore, when Nawaz Sharif insisted on a summit with Clinton, the President determined that the summit was not to happen until Pakistan withdrew its troops to their original positions behind the Line of Control. The President even warned Sharif that he would speak out regarding Pakistani protection of al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden. This intervention of the United States on behalf of India ended United States alliance with Pakistan since the Cold War and set the stage for Bill Clinton’s visit to India in 2000.
Clinton’s trip to India was not only the first trip to India by an American president in over 20 years but also fostered security dialogue between the two nations for years to come. Clinton’s trip improved trade relations with India and led to the establishment of the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum and gave rise for three future Presidents to visit India, ending the ban on nuclear test on India, reinforcing defense and national security ties and fostering economic growth through billion dollar trade deals