Former Indian Air Force chief air chief marshal B.S. Dhanoa on Friday revealed that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2001 and the Manmohan Singh government in 2008 had turned down IAF proposals to strike at Pakistan.
It was during Dhanoa's tenure as Indian Air Force chief that India carried out the air strike on Balakot in February, the first cross-border attack deep into Pakistan since the 1971 war.
Dhanoa was speaking at a guest lecture at the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in Mumbai. The Hindu reported that Dhanoa said, "IAF had proposed retaliatory action for the December 13, 2001, Parliament attack and the November 26, 2008, terror attacks in Mumbai... defence forces were capable of entering Pakistan and dismantling terrorist camps, but the government did not agree to this approach... this gave the enemy confidence that India will not retaliate."
Elaborating on the proposal to strike after the terror attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, The Times of India quoted Dhanoa as saying, “We knew where the terror camps were located in Pakistan and were ready. But it is a political decision whether to carry out a strike or not.”
Dhanoa is not the first Indian Air Force officer to talk of the force's preparedness to strike Pakistan after the 26/11 terrorist attacks.
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A year after the Mumbai attacks, Fali Homi Major, who was chief of the Indian Air Force in 2008, told Rediff.com the Manmohan Singh government had "never made up its mind". Major then said, "The government never made up its mind to go to war. I know the sentiment of the entire country was that of anger and disgust. The Indian Air Force was ready to strike at Pakistan. We had our contingency ready and were well prepared.”
In 2017, Major claimed the Indian Air Force had assured Manmohan Singh that everything from "logistics to weapons and planes" was ready to strike terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after the Mumbai attacks. He described the indecision as a lost opportunity.
Soon after the air strike on Balakot, an Indian Air Force pilot who was in service in 2008 claimed that Mirage 2000 and Su-30MKI aircraft were ready to strike Muzaffarabad. Retired wing commander Mohonto Panging told Times of India, “After Mumbai 26/11 attacks, we had planned a similar air strike on Muzaffarabad. I was leading the Sukhoi squadron.” He claimed the strike units were deployed “and waited for nearly a month”, but the government approval did not come.
Soon after the attack on Parliament by Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government ordered a mass mobilisation of the military in December 2001. 'Operation Parakram' continued for several months and was called off after Pakistan, under international pressure, agreed to crack down on terrorist groups.
