The 1947-48 Kashmir war. Forgotten lessons
The 1947-48 India-Pak war, or the first Kashmir war, was the longest India-Pakistan war. It is also the least studied. Having read several accounts from both sides, I believe our (India’s) view of the war emphasises some remarkable achievements that prevented the loss of Kashmir and key towns in it e.g The airlift that saved Srinagar (and Kashmir), along with the breaking of the siege of Poonch and Leh. While it is right to celebrate our achievements and the bravery of the soldiers of both the India army and state forces, we also need to understand where things went wrong – I believe they did, at the level of political objectives and planning. Those lessons may be more valuable for us. As someone with an amateur interest in geopolitics and military history, I believe there were larger lessons of this conflict and the mistakes made – some of which were repeated in India’s later wars. Before commenting on mistakes and lessons to be learnt, a summary of what went right is ...