In 1965 India and Pakistan went to war over the disputed region of Kashmir. The war was short and sharp, lasting from April until September 1965 and it was to see the largest tank battles since the Second World War. The war was ended by a ceasefire brokered by the UN. It is generally held that the victor of the conflict was India as Pakistan had failed to either foment insurrection in the region or to get an y international support for their position, but in the absence of a formal surrender both sides claimed victory for domestic political reasons. Pakistan were to issue a number of medals to its forces and today we are looking at the 1965 War Star Medal, known as the Sitara-e-Harb, issued to those who had fought in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965:

The medal was to be used again for the war of 1971, but with an alternative ribbon. The medal itself took the form of a seven pointed star with a roundel in the centre filled with Islamic script, it hangs from a scrolled suspension bar:

These medals were engraved with the name and regiment of the recipient, in this case to a Sepoy called ‘Munshi’ in the Army Medical Corps:

Although peace was restored, tensions between the two nations would remain and even today Kashmir is a source of friction between India and Pakistan, the war of 1965 would also lead to the eventual split of Bangladesh from Pakistan as the country, which was then East Pakistan, felt the west was more concerned over Kashmir than it was about development of their region.