The Quint is reposting this article from its archives on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, the day India officially won the Kargil War with Pakistan.
Time as they say, flies. In a little over two weeks, the nation will observe the 17th anniversary of the Kargil war. The bugles will sound, the customary wreaths will be placed, salutations will be made in memory of more than 500 dead.
Something else hasn’t changed: The shortage of ammunition! That the army has been dipping into its War Wastage Reserves (WWR) is old hat. The reserves are now down to about two weeks, meaning there’s only enough ammunition (bullets, shells etc) to last 14 days of intense fighting.
Army sources admit cutting down on training so that less ammunition is expended. It means infantry battalions are saving the ammunition that would otherwise have been used on the training range; artillery is doing the same, saving their stocks of shells and missiles; as also the tank regiments.