Pahalgam Terror Attack | 'Time to strike again': Ex-Air Force chief Arup Raha cites Uri, Balakot as precedent

Kolkata: Former Chief of Air Staff Arup Raha has advocated for a military offensive against 'Pakistan-sponsored terrorists' in the wake of the Pahalgam bloodbath, asserting that India has shattered the 'myth' that two nuclear powers cannot engage in conventional warfare, citing strikes after the Uri and Pulwama attacks.

Referring to the Army's retaliatory surgical strikes on militant launch pads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir following the Uri attack, and the subsequent Balakot air strike after the Pulwama convoy bombing, the retired Air Chief Marshal said India has "done well in the past in punishing perpetrators of terror." "It's imperative that the Indian armed establishment repeats those counter-offensives so that our enemies know who they are dealing with. This is the need of the hour," Raha told PTI.

"The how and when of such operations is something that I am no longer in a position to spell out. But I can say this: we have done it before at Balakot and Uri. We are used to (doing) it and we can do it again. India has already busted the myth that one nuclear-powered country cannot use military force on another," he added.

Raha made the remark a day after India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan, expelled Pakistani defence advisors and visa-holding citizens from the country, sealed the Attari integrated check post and suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in response to the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir where at least 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were gunned down in front of their families.

"The military establishment of Pakistan has no shame left," he said.

"That country suffered the ignominy of surrendering 93,000 prisoners of war as a result of its 1971 misdeeds. The nation is now in doldrums and is extending its begging bowl to virtually every country that would help. And in times like these, the Pakistani military is seeking revival by promoting such acts of terror," Raha said.

Asked if he was certain about the Pakistani armed forces' involvement in the Pahalgam massacre, Raha responded, "Do you have any doubts on that?"

Underlining the need for upping the task of "actionable intelligence gathering" by means of advanced technological warcraft like satellite imageries, drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to effectively tackle terror infiltration, the air force veteran stressed that the tried and tested mechanism of information gathering through human intelligence should also be made foolproof.

"Effective and actionable intelligence is the only means to prevent such attacks in future. Intelligence gathered through technology must be corroborated by multiple sources to make them actionable. That's where human intelligence plays a crucial role," Raha said.

"We have suffered on account of intelligence failures in the past. We are suffering even now," he added, hinting at possible intelligence lapses failing to stop the Pahalgam attack.

Stating that "fundamentalist forces" must be treated with strong-arm military tactics besides imposing diplomatic and economic embargoes, Raha said that the Indian democracy needs to overcome its inherent challenges to rise to the occasion.

"The steps taken by the Indian government are important and hard-hitting. But they may not be sufficient to bring Pakistan-sponsored militancy to its knees," the officer said.

On September 28, 2016, eleven days after the Indian Army headquarters in Uri were attacked allegedly by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based jihadist terror outfit which killed 19 soldiers and injured many more, the army conducted pre-emptive surgical strikes on terror teams who were preparing to "carry out infiltration and conduct strikes inside Jammu and Kashmir and in various cities in other states." The operation allegedly neutralized some 150-odd militants, the army said.

Two-and-a-half years later, on February 26, 2019, a dozen fighter jets of the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control and bombed JeM training camps in Balakot and claimed to have killed nearly 350 terrorists.

The retaliatory strike was carried out after a convoy of trucks carrying Indian security personnel was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber on February 14 in Pulwama, killing 40 CRPF jawans. The responsibility of the attack was claimed by the JeM.