The high thrum of shelling reverberated in thin air as men of the Indian Army climbed a straight cliff of about 1000 ft, the last leg of a 16,700 feet height. An entire contingent of Pakistani Army was up there, responding in kind to the shelling from the Indian plains ahead. The game was afoot.

An inhospitable graveyard at half the height of Everest. A death toll so high that the government had to include the cost of coffins in their budget. A victory painstakingly achieved, territory recaptured yard by yard. That was the Kargil conflict.