Recounted listed below are the main points of this daring offensive which the Pakistani army institution had not anticipated, assuming that India would reply militarily in Jammu and Kashmir alone.

What have been the occasions which occurred on September 6, 1965?

In the early hours of at the present time in 1965, troops of the Indian Army launched an assault within the Lahore sector in Pakistan by advancing on three fronts. These three fronts of assault have been on the Wagah-Dograi, Khalra-Burki, and Khemkaran-Kasur axes. This meant that Lahore was being threatened from three totally different sides.

The well-known Wagah border joint verify publish on the erstwhile Grand Trunk (GT) Road was taken over in a shock motion by firing just a few photographs — and columns of the Indian Army raced down the highway in direction of Lahore.

The main Indian Army troops reached the outskirts of Lahore in Batapur, Dograi and Barki. Today, these villages have been subsumed by the increasing Lahore metropolis.

What was the explanation behind this assault on Lahore?

The Pakistan Army had been waging an undeclared struggle in Jammu and Kashmir since August 1965, when Pakistani infiltrators have been pushed contained in the (erstwhile) state beneath what was known as Operation Gibraltar.

On September 1, the Pakistanis launched a standard army assault supported by tanks and the Pakistan Air Force within the Akhnoor sector close to Jammu. The goal of the Pakistani forces was to seize Akhnoor and advance in direction of Jammu.

It was in retaliation to the Pakistani aggression on this sector that the Indian Army launched an assault throughout the International Border in Punjab.

Shortly after midnight of the intervening evening of September 5 and 6, Indian Army troops crossed the worldwide border in a number of locations in Punjab. The assault caught the Pakistan Army without warning within the Lahore sector.

Why was it vital to launch an connect within the Lahore sector?

According to Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh, the Western Army Commander on the time, the strategic idea of this offensive was to pressure the Pakistan Army to deploy its forces on this sector, and to stop their deployment in assist of the Pakistani offensive in Akhnoor.

This was executed to offset the early features made by the Pakistani forces within the Chhamb-Jaurian sector of Akhnoor.

The Indian plan additionally included the seize of enormous chunks of Pakistani territory in Punjab, which might give India a bargaining hand in future talks. Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh wished to pose a menace to Lahore by occupying the Ichhogil Canal, a water impediment that supplied safety to Lahore from an assault by Indian forces.

The eventual assault down the Grand Trunk Road by the Indian Army’s 15 Infantry Division simply overwhelmed the border guarding forces of Pakistan at Wagah. Elements of an infantry battalion reached so far as Batapur on the outskirts of Lahore down the identical highway.

But why have been the preliminary features made whereas advancing in direction of Lahore not adequately exploited?

After the preliminary success by the Indian forces attacking within the space of 15 Infantry Division and 4 Mountain Division, the momentum couldn’t be maintained in lots of areas. Poor army management at larger ranges resulted within the elimination from command of many senior Army officers.

The Pakistanis sought to reap the benefits of the lull within the Indian advance by launching an assault of their very own in Khemkaran sector, and managed to reach gaining floor until they have been checked by the Indian Army on the historic Battle of Asal Utar, the place the Pakistani Patton tanks have been decisively routed.

What was the fallout of the audacious operation undertaken by the Indian Army?

The Pakistan authorities in addition to the army by no means anticipated that India would open a entrance in Punjab. They solely anticipated Indian retaliation in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence when the assault on September 6 occurred, the Pakistan Army was caught without warning.

The Pakistan Army was compelled to hurry reinforcements to the Lahore sector to fend off the Indian assault. It additionally needed to divert the Pakistan Air Force from its give attention to the Akhnoor entrance, and make use of plane to assault Indian troops advancing within the path of Lahore.

According to army historians, together with former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, the seize of Lahore was not envisaged by the Indian army planners due to the big variety of troops it will have required to carry on to the town.

However, there have been plans to destroy the bridge over the River Ravi within the Shahdara space of Lahore, and to interdict the Lahore-Wazirabad freeway in case the success in Lahore sector was to be exploited additional.