This short anecdote is written by my friend, Wg Cdr S Vijay Kumar (Retd).
This is about, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AY Tipnis obscured mission to Srinagar a day prior to the launch of Op Safed Sagar. Plain, straightforward, modest and unpretentious demeanour while giving a go-ahead to most complex and uncertain operations involving two nuclear power nations. Read on…
1. Cargoes are of all types. Many mundane, some precious, some dangerous and some outlandish. As a Flt Lt in the Kargil war, I too carried a critical package. One that is memorable and still causes some proud, patriotic goosebumps.
2. 25 May 99 – A hot, somewhat normal day in 48 Sqn despite news of skirmishes along the LOC. Also that, regular and irregular Pakistani troops had occupied Indian vacated positions in the high grounds overlooking Srinagar-Leh valley . The Indian Army was in engagement, but it was also known that the IAF was not involved, yet.
3. As a Flt Lt in 48 Sqn, my usual duties went in ‘waves’. On 25 May, it appeared no different. Planned for 2 waves to fwd area to start the day with, a change in the briefing was handed over to us at the dispersal after the first wave to Thoise and back. The new briefing was to deliver a package from AirHQ, Delhi to Srinagar. It seemed innocuous but inconvenient, so I cursed lightly under my breath but of course, complied. A helicopter crew needed a lift to Srinagar as well, and so they joined me and my crew on this trip. All standard and typical, or so I thought.
4. In Delhi, during the wait in the sweltering May heat, 31 MCU promptly loaded up 3T of mineral oil. My crew stationed themselves in the cockpit, while I decided to stretch my back on the more breezy ramp. Sleeves rolled and sweat-stained armpits, I uncoiled onto the ramp. In a short bit which still seemed a bit too long, a Premier 118 NE appeared in my line of sight. Unmarked grey overalls strode towards me purposefully. Ah, I thought, finally someone with the package! Still supine and unsuspecting, I waited. At about 20 meters or so, I made my incredulous recognition “Oh Shit! The Chief!!” I sprung up, trying to shake down my rolled-up sleeves while quickly bracing up (back then no headgear no-salute). The chief let out a curt “Hello” followed by “I have to get to Srinagar at the earliest.” “But, of course, Sir.” The next question fired at me was, whether I was a QFI. “No, Sir.” CAS’s rhetorical question of which seat he should fly from was met with my silent, internal “Yeah, whatever! It’s all yours anyway, boss!” My flight engineer was none too happy that his Captain was being bossed about. I clearly remember his indignant “Sirji, kaun hai ye” turn into a jaw drop when I told him! Half the battle won; the CAS had achieved incognito.
5. A “chatak” briefing followed by everyone taking their seats, and with the CAS on the left, we took off quickly. Delhi Radar surprisingly cleared us for any direct routing provided the enroute Airforce Radars had no objection. My navigator, Gary chacha, then contacted three SUs who asked the reason for the direct route to which he answered the standard “operational.” The SUs denied us the direct route and ‘advised’ we follow the “flight plan route”. Damn! A visibly annoyed chief wanted names of the SUs for future ‘action’. His handicap of not being able to pipe up on RT and let the world know was definitely not going down well. We settled down a bit, considering we were not doing the direct route. It was past lunchtime and out came the chief’s tiffin. A gourmand roti with dry “kele ki sabzi” was shared and gobbled quickly by all. You may note, that planned VIP commitments have an elaborate menu with much fancier cutlery than palms and fingers!
6. Post the homely lunch, an unnerving quiet ensued. I decided to “show off” my terrain knowledge which seemed to fall into somewhat preoccupied unenthusiastic ears. Thankfully, descent started. Then on the first contact with Srinagar, the CAS directed me to tell the ATC for the AOC to come up to meet us. To this request, the ATC Srinagar arrogantly enquired ‘Check Captain? ” An unceremonious ‘Flt Lt SV Kumar’ obviously did not hold too much weight. After a near-perfect approach and landing, the ATC directed us to ‘TM Dispersal’. But then the Chief redirected me to ‘VIP Dispersal’ instead. So, we parked at VIP dispersal with no ground support or marshalling.
7. After shutdown, I hopped out first from the ramp and caught sight of an annoyed Air Commodore Khanna, AOC Srinagar. Akimbo, the AOC seemed so ready to pounce on my seeming impertinence. But then, the ‘package’ came out of the dark plane into plain view! The situation unravelled quickly from there. The visibly ruffled AOC gathered himself, saluted and shot to his Gypsy, with the Chief in tow. I was with the plane, standing back a little. But to our surprise, and to the AOC’s consternation, his dog was parked in the passenger seat! The AOC quickly and apologetically whisked this cargo to the rear! But then when he cranked his very-much-in-gear Gypsy, it stuttered to a halt. Uh oh! Everyone and everything was caught a little off-guard I guess. The CAS called me and ordered no one to leave the aircraft. He also informed us of his arrival back in 3 hours. The AOC and the Chief then left on their way.
8. Trapped with me as guard, were my crew and the unsuspecting helicopter crew whose lift had turned into this startling adventure! We waited inside the aircraft as commanded. A few enquiries by the Stn about departure time and some needing lift to Delhi were tactfully deflected. The Chief came back and an uneventful return with him to Delhi was accomplished. We did garner a few remarks on our plane’s cleanliness or the lack of, from the Chief before parting ways with him in Delhi. Then we landed back in Chandigarh and went straight to a unit party at the Officers’ Mess where all concerned were in the know by then of the day’s ‘special delivery’. We further debriefed them – it was a very interesting party, to say the least!
9. The Air Ops Safed Sagar commenced on 26 May 99, while my crew and I were hauled up for wearing overalls to the mess the day before!
The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LOC). In India, the conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay, which was the name of the Indian operation to clear the Kargil sector. The Indian Air Force’s role in acting jointly with Indian Army ground troops during the war was aimed at flushing out regular and irregular troops of the Pakistan Army from vacated Indian Positions in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control. This particular operation was given the code name Operation Safed Sagar.
The cause of the war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers disguised as Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the LOC, which serves as the de facto border between the two states. During the initial stages of the war, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Chiefs of Army Staff showed involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid. The Indian Army, later supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured a majority of the positions on the Indian side of the LOC infiltrated by the Pakistani troops and militants. Facing international diplomatic opposition, the Pakistani forces withdrew from the remaining Indian positions along the LOC.
