On the day when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warned Pakistan that Balakot airstrike was a message that cross-border terrorism would not be a low-cost option for the adversary, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhaduria clarified that the air strike had "dispelled" taboo on the use of air power. February 26 airstrike in Balakot was the IAF's first strike on a target in mainland Pakistan since the 1971 war.
"The surgical strike of 2016 and the Balakot airstrike of 2019 were not just military strikes but a strong message to the adversary that terror infrastructure across the border cannot be used as a safe haven to wage a low-cost war against India," Rajnath Singh said while addressing a seminar titled “Air Power in ‘No War No Peace’ Scenario”, organised by IAF think tank Centre for Air Power Studies on the first anniversary of Balakot airstrike in Delhi.
The defence minister added that India’s out-of-the-box response reflected in the Balakot airstrike had forced the "rewriting of many doctrines" across the LoC and the adversary would now have to think 100 times for any future misadventures. "The responses displayed India’s defence capability and affirmed its right to defend itself against terrorism," Singh further said, while addressing a gathering of key IAF officials.
He also said that India's approach to terrorism was and will remain a judicious combination of clinical military action and mature and responsible diplomatic outreach.
“We have recently seen the impact of collective diplomatic and financial pressure on Pakistan. Terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who were treated like VIPs and heroes, have been put behind bars," Rajnath said. He, however, added: "We realise that this is not enough and unless Pakistan is made accountable, it will continue with its previous policy of duplicity and deceit. All attempts are being made to work in this direction.”
Bhaduria told the gathering that the use of air power was discussed in the past but most suggestions in this regard were "negative" and it was decided "better not to use". It is understood that the IAF chief was referrering to the situation after 26/11 Mumbai terror attack when the option of using air power against Pakistan-based terror camps was discussed in the South Block.
“Balakot airstrike was a clear demonstration that there exists a space within the sub-conventional conflict boundary wherein the Air Force can be used for targeting and yet have escalation control,” he added. He lauded the political and diplomatic efforts to quickly de-escalate the situation. He described Pakistan’s response after 30 hours as an effort to satisfy the domestic audience.
Talking about the lessons learnt from Balakot, Bhaduria said we allowed to slip our edge over Pakistan air force in terms of Beyond Visual Range Missile capability, which we had during Kargil.
"But it will soon materialize with the induction of Rafale. In air engagement, especially in a deeply contested area, it is important to have a weapons edge. Once we retain this edge,it is important that we don't allow to slip back this edge," Bhaduria added.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said, "The message of Balakot was very clear that the kind of proxy war perpetrated on our people will not be tolerated."
Echoing the CDS's opinion, vice chief of IAF Air Marshal H.S. Arora said, "As far as their terror factories are concerned, they are no longer safe anywhere across the border. We have the will, capability and the political support to go across and strike them at their roots."
He added that Pakistan keeps talking about its ability of nuclear retaliation. "We also possess a similar capability," he said.
While most of the IAF officials present were for a strong response to Pakistan, T.C.A. Raghavan, former diplomat, raised a point of having peace with Islamabad through talk.
"Though military options are available, both countries should also talk about desecuritisation of the issue. Both India and Pakistan are spending so much on their military, which can be used for other welfare measures," he said.
Raghavan had a tough time to respond to questions posed by several air force officials on the ways to deal with Pakistan sponsored terror.
