{"id":26594,"date":"2025-12-18T16:30:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/18\/if-pakistan-doesnt-withdraw-at-kargils-darkest-hour-vajpayees-secret-letter-to-bill-clinton-politics-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:30:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:30:57","slug":"if-pakistan-doesnt-withdraw-at-kargils-darkest-hour-vajpayees-secret-letter-to-bill-clinton-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/18\/if-pakistan-doesnt-withdraw-at-kargils-darkest-hour-vajpayees-secret-letter-to-bill-clinton-politics-news\/","title":{"rendered":"‘If Pakistan Doesn’t Withdraw…’: At Kargil\u2019s Darkest Hour, Vajpayee’s Secret Letter To Bill Clinton | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Last Updated:<\/span>

Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s softness evaporated during the war, says a new book by former\u00a0aide Ashok Tandon<\/h2>\n
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\"Vajpayee<\/p>\n

Vajpayee warned Clinton about the consequences if Pakistan did not withdraw from the Indian territory it had intruded upon, says the book. File image\/Getty<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee<\/a> always had the image of a peacenik and a poet-politician, contrasting with LK Advani\u2019s aggressive speeches of the nineties. However, according to a new book by former Vajpayee aide Ashok Tandon, during the heat of the India-Pakistan war, Vajpayee sent a \u201csecret letter” to then US President Bill Clinton. In this letter, he warned Clinton about the consequences if Pakistan did not withdraw from the Indian territory it had intruded upon, a warning that seemed uncharacteristic of Vajpayee\u2019s soft persona.<\/p>\n

Having just returned from meeting then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and after starting the Delhi-Lahore bus service, the Pakistani army\u2019s intrusion was a political embarrassment for Vajpayee.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the war, Atal Bihari Vajpayee sent a \u2018secret letter\u2019 to then-US President Bill Clinton, making it clear that if Pakistani intruders did not withdraw from Indian territory, they would be expelled one way or another. India also prepared a \u2018Six Day War\u2019 plan, deploying troops in a manner that would allow the India-Pakistan border to be crossed in less than a week if necessary,” reads the book \u201cAtal Sansmaran”, launched in Delhi on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Vajpayee\u2019s softness evaporated during the war, argues the author, citing an old interview from that time when he publicly defied US pressure for talks with Pakistan. \u201cUnless the Pakistani Army leaves Kargil, there can be no discussion on any issue,” Vajpayee was quoted back then.<\/p>\n

Tandon sums up Vajpayee\u2019s role as \u201cthe right person in the right position at the right time”.<\/p>\n

The memoir by Ashok Tandon\u2014Vajpayee\u2019s media adviser\u2014frames this moment as emblematic of Vajpayee\u2019s nuanced approach to crisis management and international engagement. A blend of quiet strength and unmistakable firmness that shaped Vajpayee, the strongman India has rarely seen.<\/p>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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December 18, 2025, 21:55 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> politics<\/a> ‘If Pakistan Doesn’t Withdraw…’: At Kargil\u2019s Darkest Hour, Vajpayee’s Secret Letter To Bill Clinton<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:December 18, 2025, 21:55 IST Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s softness evaporated during the war, says a new book by former\u00a0aide Ashok Tandon Vajpayee warned Clinton about the consequences if Pakistan did not withdraw from the Indian territory it had intruded upon, says the book. File image\/Getty Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee always had the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}