Operation Desert Hawk

Last updated
Operation Desert Hawk
Part of the prelude of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts and the Cold War
India-Pakistan Boundary in the Rann of Kutch.jpg
Map of the India–Pakistan border in the Rann of Kutch
Date9 April 1965 – 30 June 1965
Location
Rann of Kutch
Result

Ceasefire [1] [2]

Territorial
changes		 Status quo ante bellum
Belligerents
Flag of India.svg  India Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Indian Generals.svg Gen. J. N. Chaudhuri Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg Maj. Gen. Tikka Khan [3]
Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg Brig. Iftikhar Khan Janjua [4]

Operation Desert Hawk was the codename of a military operation planned and executed by the Pakistan Army in the Rann of Kutch area, the disputed area which was under Indian control from the long-standing status quo. [5] The boundary of Rann of Kutch was one of the few un-demarcated boundaries pending since the 1947 partition of India. [6] [2]

Contents

Background

The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. The area was originally part of the princely state of Kutch, which was acceded to India [2] [7] in present-day Kutch region of Gujarat. Both countries maintained few armed police posts scattered along the border.

Objectives

Pakistan planned to serve several purposes through this operation. First was to assess the response of the Indian government and military, [6] which was relatively unstable under the governance of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri after the death of India's first Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and the loss in the 1962 Sino-Indian war. [4] The second objective was to draw Indian armor southward to Kutch, away from the Punjab and Kashmir region. [6] [5] One of the objectives was to test the United States' protest over the use of US-supplied military equipment against the India, which was a violation of Pakistan's commitment. [5] [2] The Pakistan Army also got a rehearsal opportunity for the planned invasion of the disputed territory the Kashmir region administered by India, later the same year. [6]

Operation

In January 1965, Pakistan claimed the area of Rann of Kutch on the basis of the Sindh province. Pakistan's paramilitary force Indus Rangers started activity and took control over the ruined fort of Kanjarkot located on the north-west fringe of the Rann, [4] Pakistani Indus Rangers started patrolling below the Indian claimed line by January 1965 and occupied an Indian police post near the Kanjarkot fort, which was in violation of the long-standing status quo. [5]

The region's terrain and communication network and logistics was favorable to Pakistan [6] [8] [2] with all the approaches to the Rann of Kutch from the Indian side being more difficult than from Pakistan. The Pakistani railway station situated at Badin was 26 miles north of the Indian claim line and Karachi was 113 miles east from the Badin, where the Pakistan Army's 8 Division was based. Pakistan was able to move the troops quickly and easily along the border line. The nearest Indian railway station at Bhuj was located 110 miles from the border and the nearest Indian Army formation, 31 Infantry Brigade situated at Ahmedabad, was 160 miles east of Bhuj railway station. [8]

In February 1965, bilateral talks for the negotiation failed. [9]

The Pakistan Army, equipped with US-made Patton tanks, struck the Indian forces on 9 April. [9] [10] Pakistan launched a major offensive on the Sardar post comprising a brigade strength. [11] [12]

On 24 April, Pakistan launched "Operation Desert Hawk" a decisive thrust towards the Indian posts in the area deploying an infantry division and two armored regiments equipped with Patton tanks and field guns. The Pakistan Army captured four more posts and claimed the whole Kanjarkot stretch. With poor logistics and inferior military hardware, India had no other option than to retreat after offering decent resistance. [2]

Battle at Biar Bet

In April 1965, tensions heated up in the Rann of Kutch. On April 17, the highly trained but still untested 24th Cavalry received orders to deploy to Chhor, about 800 miles towards Pakistan's southern border, to undertake the Pakistani Army's first-ever tank assault. On April 26, a squadron from the 24th Cavalry joined with the 15 Punjab Regiment and 15 FFR and assaulted the heavily fortified Indian position, a spot known as "Biar Bet." After fierce fighting the Pakistanis prevailed. A United Kingdom mediated peace followed in which Biar Bet was handed back over to the Indians. [8] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Ceasefire

The British Prime Minister Herold Wilson proposed a ceasefire on 28 April. Both countries signed an agreement to settle the disputed border through international arbitration by the International Court of Justice on 30 June 1965. [1] [2] The ceasefire became effective on 1 July 1965. India and Pakistan both agreed to demarcate the border by a three-member arbitration committee. The possibility of the armed conflict escalation was avoided by the active interventions of the British Prime Minister and the United Nation's Secretary-General. [19] Both nations withdrew all troops from the disputed and held areas after the peace talks as of june 30 and a pre-conflict status as of January 1965 was established. The dispute later on went for Indo-Pakistan Western Boundary Case Tribunal and was resolved in 1968. [13]

Aftermath

The Pakistan Army decision makers assessed the Indian Army's strength and capability based on the success in the Rann of Kutch area and headed towards their next planned execution of Operation Gibraltar in August 1965. [20]

Despite India's repeated protests against the use of US-made weaponry by Pakistan against India, the President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson took no effective action against Pakistan. [2]

This attack exposed the inadequacy of the Indian State Armed Police to cope with armed aggression. So after the end of the 1965 war, the government of India formed the Border Security Force as a unified central agency with the specific mandate of guarding India's international boundaries. The Border Security Force came into formal existence on 1 December 1965. [21] Morarji Desai invited around 550 farmers, mostly Sikhs from Punjab, to settle and farm the land for border's safety and security. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts</span>

Since the Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars, conflicts, and military standoffs. A long-running dispute over Kashmir and cross-border terrorism have been the predominant cause of conflict between the two states, with the exception of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which occurred as a direct result of hostilities stemming from the Bangladesh Liberation War in erstwhile East Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948</span> 1947–1948 war between India and Pakistan

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948, also known as the first Kashmir war, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars between the two newly independent nations. Pakistan precipitated the war a few weeks after its independence by launching tribal lashkar (militias) from Waziristan, in an effort to capture Kashmir and to preempt the possibility of its ruler joining India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Rann of Kutch</span> Salt marsh in Gujarat, India and Sindh, Pakistan; the greater part of the Rann of Kutch

The Great Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt deserts in the world. This area has been inhabited by the Kutchi people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Pakistani war of 1965</span> 1965 war between India and Pakistan

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, also known as the second India–Pakistan war, was an armed conflict between Pakistan and India that took place from August 1965 to September 1965. The conflict began following Pakistan's unsuccessful Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against Indian rule. The seventeen day war caused thousands of casualties on both sides and witnessed the largest engagement of armoured vehicles and the largest tank battle since World War II. Hostilities between the two countries ended after a ceasefire was declared through UNSC Resolution 211 following a diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration. Much of the war was fought by the countries' land forces in Kashmir and along the border between India and Pakistan. This war saw the largest amassing of troops in Kashmir since the Partition of India in 1947, a number that was overshadowed only during the 2001–2002 military standoff between India and Pakistan. Most of the battles were fought by opposing infantry and armoured units, with substantial backing from air forces, and naval operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kutch district</span> District in Gujarat, India

Kutch district, officially spelled Kachchh, is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters (capital) at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,674 km2, it is the largest district of India. The area of Kutch is larger than the entire area of other Indian states like Haryana (44,212 km2) and Kerala (38,863 km2), as well as the country of Estonia (45,335 km2). The population of Kutch is about 2,092,371. It has 10 talukas, 939 villages and 6 municipalities. The Kutch district is home to the Kutchi people who speak the Kutchi language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tikka Khan</span> Pakistani general (1915–2002)

Tikka Khan was a Pakistani military officer who served as the first chief of the army staff from 1972 to 1976. Along with Yahya Khan, he is considered a chief architect of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide that resulted in the deaths of up to 3,000,000 people. His leadership of the Pakistani Army actions in Bangladesh led to him being dubbed the "Butcher of Bengal" by Bengalis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Grand Slam</span> Pakistani military operation in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War

Operation Grand Slam was a key military operation of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It refers to a plan drawn up by the Pakistan Army in May 1965, that consisted of an attack on the vital Akhnoor Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The bridge was not only the lifeline of an entire infantry division of the Indian Army, but could also be used to threaten the city of Jammu, an important logistical point for Indian forces. The operation saw initial success, but was aborted when the Indian Army opened a new front in the Pakistani province of Punjab in order to relieve pressure in Kashmir. This forced Pakistan to abandon Grand Slam and fight in Punjab, so that the operation ended in failure and stated objectives were not achieved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Gibraltar</span> 1965 Pakistani military operation

Operation Gibraltar was the codename of a military operation planned and executed by the Pakistan Army in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India in August 1965. The operation's strategy was to covertly cross the Line of Control (LoC) and incite the Muslim-majority Kashmiri population's uprising against the Indian Government. The military leadership believed that a rebellion by the local Kashmiri population against Indian authorities would serve as Pakistan's casus belli against India on the international stage. Pakistan's leadership specifically chose this name to draw a parallel to the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula that was launched from Gibraltar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Chawinda</span> Battle in the Indo–Pakistani War of 1965

The Battle of Chawinda was a major engagement between Pakistan and India during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 as part of the Sialkot campaign. It is well known as being one of the largest tank battles in history since the Battle of Kursk, which was fought between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indus Waters Treaty</span> Water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan

The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, arranged and negotiated by the World Bank, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It was signed in Karachi on 19 September 1960 by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistani president Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iftikhar Khan Janjua</span> Hero of the Rann of Kutch

Major General Iftikhar Khan JanjuaHJ & BAR SPk SQA of the Pakistan Army is one of the most senior Pakistani officers to have been killed in action. He is known in Pakistan as the hero of the Rann of Kutch, as he was a brigadier in command of 6 Brigade, during the fighting in April 1965 prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was killed in a helicopter crash, in Kashmir, during the Battle of Chamb while in command of 23 Infantry Division during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. He is one of the only two Generals of Pakistan army to die in combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India–Pakistan relations</span> Bilateral relations

India and Pakistan have a complex and largely hostile relationship that is rooted in a multitude of historical and political events, most notably the partition of British India in August 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India–Pakistan border</span> International border

The India–Pakistan, Indo–Pakistani is the international boundary that separates the nations of the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. At its northern end is the Line of Control, which separates Indian-administered Kashmir from Pakistani-administered Kashmir; and at its southern end is Sir Creek, a tidal estuary in the Rann of Kutch between the Indian state of Gujarat and the Pakistani province of Sindh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhuj Airport</span> Domestic airport serving Bhuj, Gujarat, India

Bhuj Airport is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base located in Bhuj in the Kutch District of the state of Gujarat, India. It is located 4 km from the city centre. It is situated at an altitude of 257 feet (78 m), and occupies a total area of 832 acres (337 ha). It is located 100 miles (160 km) from the Indo-Pakistan border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence Day</span> 1965 war Memorial Day in Pakistan

Defence Day is celebrated in Pakistan as a national day to commemorate the sacrifices made by Pakistani soldiers in defending its borders. The date of 6 September marks the day in 1965 when Indian troops crossed the international border to launch an attack on Pakistani Punjab, in a riposte to Pakistan's Operation Grand Slam targeting Jammu. While it is officially commemorated as an unprovoked surprise attack by India, repulsed by the Pakistan Army despite its smaller size and fewer armaments, the narrative has been criticised by Indian commentators as representing false history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24th Cavalry (Frontier Force)</span> Regiment of the Pakistan Army

The 24th Cavalry (Frontier Force) is a regiment of the Pakistan Army, raised on June 7, 1962. It was one of the armoured regiments assembled and trained following independence to meet Pakistan's growing defense needs. The officer selected to train and command the new unit was Lt Col Muhammad Afzal Khan (Probyn's Horse). The 24th Cavalry was involved in the first ever tank assault in the history of the Pakistan army earning it its title of “The Charging 24th Cavalry” as it was the first Armoured regiment of Pakistan Army to fight Trans-frontier. It was proved to be the best cavalry unit against India.

Shakoor Lake is a lake, comprising 300 km2, located on the border between the Indian state of Gujarat and the Sindh province on the southern edge of Pakistan. About 90 km2 of the lake lies within Pakistan, whilst the majority of the lake, i.e. 210 km2, is in India. The Indian built Indo-Pak Border Road runs across the Shakoor Lake and it is joined by the Indian GJ SH 45 State Highway just east of the lake, at the Kanjarkot Fort.

Tamgha-e-Diffa (Urdu: تمغہِ دفاع, lit. '' is a Pakistani general campaign medal and is awarded along with a clasp to all ranks who take part in minor operations or campaigns within a laid down period, dates and prescribed qualifying area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Biar Bet (1965)</span> Conflict between Indian and Pakistani forces (1965)

The Battle of Biar Bet was an engagement between Indian and Pakistani forces in the prelude to the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, during Pakistan's Rann of Kutch Campaign. During the battle, Pakistan captured the post along with Chhad Bet and held them until the end of the year, until when it was handed back to the Indians while the Pakistanis gained some land.

The Battle of Sardar Post occurred on the 9th of April 1965 during Operation Desert Hawk between Indian and Pakistani forces, and preceded the later and more important Battle of Biar Bet. In the course of the battle, the Pakistanis captured the post from the Indian Border Security Force and Indian Army.

References

  1. 1 2 Dutt, Sagarika; Bansal, Alok (2013-06-17). South Asian Security: 21st Century Discourses. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-136-61767-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hiro, Dilip (24 February 2015). The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan. Nation Books, Hiro. p. 178. ISBN   978-1-56858-503-1 . Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Sagar, Krishna Chandra (1997). The War of the Twins. Northern Book Centre. p. 57. ISBN   978-81-7211-082-6 . Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 McGarr, Paul M., ed. (2013), "Triumph and tragedy:: the Rann of Kutch and the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War", The Cold War in South Asia: Britain, the United States and the Indian Subcontinent, 1945–1965, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 301–344, doi:10.1017/CBO9781139022071.013, ISBN   978-1-107-00815-1 , retrieved 2022-05-14
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Rann of Kutch". www.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Hiranandani, G. M. (2000). Transition to Triumph: History of the Indian Navy, 1965–1975. Lancer Publishers. p. 21. ISBN   978-1-897829-72-1.
  7. ↑ Brecher, Angus Professor Department of Political Science Michael; Brecher, Michael; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan (1997). A Study of Crisis. University of Michigan Press. ISBN   978-0-472-10806-0.
  8. 1 2 3 Bajwa, Farooq (2013-09-30). From Kutch to Tashkent: The Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. Hurst Publishers. pp. 65–96. ISBN   978-1-84904-230-7.
  9. 1 2 SCHOFIELD, JULIAN (2000). "Militarized Decision-Making for War in Pakistan: 1947–1971". Armed Forces & Society. 27 (1): 139–140. doi:10.1177/0095327X0002700108. ISSN   0095-327X. JSTOR   45346403. S2CID   144532810.
  10. ↑ Chaudhuri, Rudra (2018-01-01). "Indian "Strategic Restraint" Revisited: The Case of the 1965 India-Pakistan War". India Review. 17 (1): 55–75. doi:10.1080/14736489.2018.1415277. ISSN   1473-6489. S2CID   159008785.
  11. ↑ "THE WAR IN KUTCH: DEFENCE OF SARDAR POST | Salute". 2015-10-30. Archived from the original on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  12. ↑ Colman, Jonathan (2009-09-01). "Britain and the Indo-Pakistani Conflict: The Rann of Kutch and Kashmir, 1965". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 37 (3): 465–482. doi:10.1080/03086530903157664. ISSN   0308-6534. S2CID   159494083.
  13. 1 2 "Rann of Kutch". Archived from the original on 2021-08-24.
  14. ↑ "Indo-Pakistan War,1965: The valour and the victory". DefenceInfo. 13 September 2022.
  15. ↑ "Guides Paltan Celebrates Biar Bet Day". Hilal English. Archived from the original on 2022-10-13.
  16. ↑ Indian Preceptive. 1965 Indo Pak War.
  17. ↑ Gettysburg Times (1965-04-30). 1965-04-30.
  18. ↑ Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2003). The armed forces of Pakistan. Internet Archive. Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-579839-5.
  19. ↑ Pradhan, R. D. (2007). 1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan War. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN   978-81-269-0762-5.
  20. ↑ Yamin, Tughral (2012). "An appreciation of the Pakistani military thought process". Strategic Studies. 32 (2/3): 123. ISSN   1029-0990. JSTOR   48529363.
  21. ↑ Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. "Report 1965-66" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-15. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  22. ↑ "Outsiders in their own land".

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.