Balakot airstrike's message was ghus kar maarenge, wherever you are: Ex-Air Force chief BS Dhanoa

On the first anniversary of the Balakot airstrike, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, the former Chief of the Air Staff, says the force looks back at the operation with "satisfaction".

HIGHLIGHTS

India sent warplanes into Pakistan a year ago today
Attacked terror camp; op was seen as revenge for Pulwama
Pakistan didn't believe India would strike on its soil: Ex-Air chief

The man who led India's Air Force at the time of the Balakot airstrike has described it as a "paradigm shift" in IAF operations and said it was meant to tell the enemy: "Ghus kar maarenge, no matter where you are."

Exactly a year ago today, India announced it had sent warplanes into Pakistan to attack a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp at Balakot, and killed "a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis". Pakistan denied any casualties.

The operation was widely seen as India's retaliation for a suicide bombing claimed by Jaish that had killed 40 paramilitary personnel in Kashmir less than two weeks earlier.

The general elections held later that year were free of major terrorist attacks because Pakistani leaders were "scared" of a similar or bigger Indian response, former Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa told ANI on Wednesday.

The Balakot airstrike was followed by a dogfight the following day between Indian and Pakistani warplanes, in which an Indian fighter pilot -- Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman -- was captured. He was later released.

The IAF said Abhinandan Varthaman took down a Pakistani F-16 before going down, but Islamabad denies having used the US-made fighters in the first place.

The ex-Air chief said Pakistan did not believe India would strike inside its territory (it was the first time in decades that fighter jets had crossed the Line of Control).

A year later, he said, the force looks back at the Balakot operation "with satisfaction".

Source: India Today

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