Defence awareness

Wars and famous operations

From 1947 to Kargil and after: the wars and operations every aspirant should know.

Photo: The Kargil War Memorial at Dras
The Kargil War Memorial at Dras. Photo: Mansi singh200310, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A short list of the wars and operations of independent India. Dates are the ones commonly given in textbooks and official sources.

  • 1947-48: Jammu and KashmirThe first war with Pakistan. Indian troops were flown to Srinagar on 27 October 1947 after Kashmir joined India.
  • 1948: Operation PoloThe Army's action that brought the princely state of Hyderabad into India (September 1948).
  • 1961: Operation Vijay (Goa)The armed forces freed Goa, Daman and Diu from Portuguese rule.
  • 1962: war with ChinaFought in the Himalayas in October and November. Major Shaitan Singh of Rezang La was awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
  • 1965: war with PakistanEnded with the Tashkent Declaration in January 1966.
  • 1971: Bangladesh Liberation WarPakistani forces in the east surrendered in Dhaka on 16 December 1971, now celebrated as Vijay Diwas.
  • 1984: Operation MeghdootThe Army secured the Siachen Glacier.
  • 1987-90: Operation PawanThe Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka.
  • 1988: Operation CactusIndian forces helped the Maldives government against a coup attempt.
  • 1999: Kargil War (Operation Vijay)Troops recaptured heights taken by intruders. The Air Force's part was Operation Safed Sagar and the Navy's Operation Talwar. Kargil Vijay Diwas is on 26 July.
  • 2016: surgical strikesThe Army carried out strikes across the Line of Control on 29 September 2016.
  • 2019: BalakotThe Air Force struck a terror camp at Balakot on 26 February 2019.
  • 2025: Operation SindoorIndia's armed forces carried out strikes on terror targets on 7 May 2025, after the terror attack at Pahalgam on 22 April 2025.
  • Rescue operationsThe forces also bring Indians home from danger zones, for example Operation Rahat (Yemen, 2015) and Operation Ganga (Ukraine, 2022).

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