New Delhi: The IAF strikes against terrorist training camps in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa epitomise PM Narendra Modi’s belief in the “eye-for-an-eye” doctrine.
The operation, conducted in the early hours of Tuesday, was initially marked by confusion over the exact location of the Balakot targeted, with areas by the name existing in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as well as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Although Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, perhaps by design, refrained from mentioning which Balakot it was, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed it was the one in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a stronghold of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
With this, the significance of the operation and its message were clear: Modi would not shy away from striking inside Pakistani territory.
For years, the intelligence community has argued that since India considers PoK its own territory, strikes there are acceptable. Any strikes outside PoK, they have said, would amount to undeclared war.
But by going outside PoK, Modi seems to be demonstrating that he is prepared for Pakistan’s retaliation and the world’s wrath – although the world had already been warned after the Pulwama attack and it had largely indicated support.
Also read: Madrassas to military training — how Balakot emerged as largest breeding ground for JeM
Knowing the neighbour
Balakot in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa lies in a stunningly beautiful valley. It is a mere 64 km from Abbotabad, where the Pakistani military school is located and al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. It has also been a hotspot for Barelvi extremists for the last nearly 200 years.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the 14 February Pulwama attack that propelled Tuesday’s strike, and other terror groups have used the area as a hideout for years now.
In 2005, when this reporter visited Balakot, close to the epicentre of an earthquake that had struck Jammu & Kashmir, large parts of it had been destroyed.
What is significant in this morning’s strike is that the Modi government appears to have a clear understanding of the Pakistan nuclear threshold, a factor that was missing earlier.
One of the arguments against retaliation after the 2001 Parliament attack, which saw the Indian Army massing on the border (called Operation Parakram), and after the Kaluchak terror strike in May 2002, was that India was not fully cognisant of Pakistan’s nuclear threshold, as the country had held its first nuclear tests just a few years before, in 1998.
Also read: These are the 3 locations in Pakistan that were bombed by Indian Air Force
A clear message
The fact that the IAF travelled about 80 km across the LoC under the cover of darkness and returned safely holds enormous political significance.
This strike allows Modi to tell the world as well as Pakistan that India will not take terror lying down.
It ends, once and for all, the diplomatic charade that India has seen for the last 10 years since 26/11, with the Pakistan establishment taking no action against the terrorist masterminds on its soil.
At the time of the 2008 Mumbai strike, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was persuaded not to retaliate by the international community. This time around, Modi has told the world that he will not listen to any pleas in this regard — and the world has understood his anger.
The US has scrambled to support Modi’s decision to strike back as have most of the other Permanent-Five countries, except China, a close ally of Pakistan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had issued a statement condemning the Pulwama attack within hours.
This is certainly Modi’s Pokhran moment. In 1998, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken India into the nuclear club, sending the world a message that the country was a regional power to contend with.
Modi’s IAF strikes on PoK are a signal that he will not hesitate to go to war if he needs to do so.
Modi has shown what a leader should be like. So far we had cowards and corrupt leaders looting the country. Congress weakened India by not procuring the equipment the defence forces asked for many years.
Very glad that Modiji is the PM and not Manmohan Singh-Sonya Gandhi combine. Now the people must appreciate it with their overwhelming votes
Very well-written, balanced article, Ms. Jyoti Malhotra
1. This surgical bombing of specific targets in Pakistan occupied part of Kashmir is a message not only to Pakistan but also to separatists and politicians of Jammu & Kashmir who foolishly think and suggest that our government should have a dialogue with Pakistan. We all know that Pakistan is a country which has funded terror outfits like JeM, LeT, JuD, and Taliban. 2. Therefore, I believe that it is for people of Kashmir to do some critical self-introspection and take a firm stand against terrorists. 3. Our Army protects ordinary citizens Jammu & Kashmir (J & K) from attacks of the terrorists. Question is this: Who will protect J & K citizens if the terror outfits get a free hand to suppress the citizens in whose name they are now indulging in violence? 4. I hope J & K politicians like Ms Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah and even Farooq Abdullah are aware of risks of their support to separatists and others who indulge incite violence in name of azadi.
Proud that Modi took this decision unlike his predecessors who caved in self-imposed pressure or so-called international pressure.
Uri and Pulwama were acts of war as well. On both occasions, India has responded only after losing the lives of soldiers / policemen and it has struck only terror related facilities. India has not engaged military targets. Great wisdom on Pakistan’s part in not taking this any further. That is bound to lead to an escalation that neither side wants. Given the nature of this predawn attack, even China will find it difficult to defend Pakistan. 2. Issues of war and peace involve the deepest national interest. Hopefully, this magnificent action by the IAF will not become part of the election campaign. Two separate silos.
You seemed to have had a heartbreak this morning. Your comment is contradictory. If India had struck Pakistan before any lives were lost, you would have accused the Indian government of lacking wisdom. If Indian government has treated Pulwama as a watershed moment, you applaud Pakistan of showing great wisdom.
Hold your horses. The evidence of wisdom will come from not supporting acts of terror or terrorist infrastructure in future. Don’t start applauding Pakistan so soon.
Great decision. Time to walk the talk!! Shekhar Gupta was right when he stated that Pakistan underestimates this government’s risk taking capacity, and that too in the election year.
To complete this military and moral victory/gain, all we need now is a statement from the prime minister — similar to his earlier statement on Kashmiris — that our fight is not against the people of Pakistan but against terrorists, who are Pakistan’s enemies too.
Yes, that would be humane because most peace-loving Pakistanis too have been affected by the games ISI and Pak politicians play.