B S Dhanoa: IAF achieved military objective in Balakot operation

Pic courtesy/Twitter/IANS

Gwalior: Air Marshal B S Dhanoa on Monday stated Pakistani Air Force side did not enter into Indian airspace after the Balakot airstrike, while asserting that the IAF "achieved its military objective" in the operation while Pakistan did not. He added this in response to a question at a press conference held during a day-long event at the Gwalior Air Base to mark 20 years of the Kargil War.

"They didn't come into our airspace. And what was our objective? Our objective was to strike the (terror) camp and we have done that. We have achieved our objective. Their (Pakistani) objective was to hit our army places. They could not and that is the bottom line," B S Dhanoa said. Dhanoa asserted that the IAF achieved its stated military objective but the Pakistani side did not.

"But none of them (PAF side) crossed the LoC into our side," he said. The IAF on Monday also organised a seminar on 'Air operations in Kargil war, lessons learnt and way forward' at the Gwalior Air Force Station. The Air Force had struck a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist training camp on February 26 in Pakistan's Balakot area in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The Pakistan Air Force retaliated the next day by unsuccessfully targeting various military installations in Jammu and Kashmir. Dhanoa said, "They deciding to close the airspace is their problem. Our economy is vibrant and air traffic is a very important part and you have noticed that the Air Force has never stopped our civilian air traffic.

Only on February 27, we had stopped Srinagar airspace for two-three hours. We did not allow tension with Pakistan to dictate our civil aviation because our economy is much bigger and much stronger as compared to theirs," he added. Praising the Mirage-2000, the IAF chief recalled how the use of the aircraft equipped with laser-guided bombs, coupled with the ground forces had turned the tide of the war.

"We stand by the people who achieved this. Pakistan did not have beyond visual range missile. When you have an element of surprise by your side then you can make success. Purpose of our attack has always been to show our resolve and capability," Dhanoa said.

With inputs from PTI

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