ISLAMABAD, Sept. 6 (UPI) — Pakistan is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Indo-Pakistani War on Sunday as border tensions with India continue.
The war took place between August and September 1965 with both sides claiming a victory. The war ended after the United States and the former Soviet Union intervened, leading to a ceasefire mandated by the United Nations.
Independent historians and researchers believe that Pakistan lost the war — badly. Pakistan annually celebrates Sept. 6 as “Defense Day” and India also commemorates the event.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially wanted a three-week-long celebration, starting Aug. 28 and culminating Sept. 22.
Ultra-nationalistic sentiments escalated ahead of the anniversary between the feuding, nuclear nations. India and Pakistan are attempting to enter peace talks, but both sides have continuously stepped back from efforts.
“The Defense Day of Pakistan reminds us of the unflinching resolve, determination, courage and bravery of the Pakistani nation,” Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifsaid Sunday, adding that “undoubtedly Pakistan is a responsible and peaceful nuclear power.”
The U.S. Library of Congress determined the war was “inconclusive.”
“The war was militarily inconclusive; each side held prisoners and some territory belonging to the other. Losses were relatively heavy — on the Pakistani side, twenty aircraft, 200 tanks, and 3,800 troops,” according to the Library of Congress. “Pakistan’s army had been able to withstand Indian pressure, but a continuation of the fighting would only have led to further losses and ultimate defeat for Pakistan. Most Pakistanis, schooled in the belief of their own martial prowess, refused to accept the possibility of their country’s military defeat by “Hindu India” and were, instead, quick to blame their failure to attain their military aims on what they considered to be the ineptitude” of Pakistan’s president at the time, Ayub Khan.
