TNN

New Delhi, Jun 4: By early June exactly a decade ago, after initially being caught napping, India had launched full-scale military operations to dislodge well-entrenched Pakistani intruders from the Kargil heights.

Succeed they did, progressively recapturing Tololing, Tiger Hill, Khalubar and other heights before the military operations ended on July 26, with India having lost 474 soldiers and another 1,100 left injured.

The flurry of probes after the 1999 Kargil conflict brought out glaring lapses, ranging from critical intelligence failures and gaps in military capabilities to inept border management and utter lack of long-term strategic planning.

But while both the NDA and UPA governments since then incrementally implemented some of the recommendations, the most crucial one to reform India's higher defence management — the creation of a chief of defence staff (CDS) post — is still nowhere on the horizon even 10 years after Kargil. ‘‘There is absolutely no movement towards creating the CDS post’’ said a top defence official.