PAK SCAN: SURGICAL STRIKES THAT NEVER WERE

[Zarvan]

The new Indian Army chief, Gen Bipin Rawat, has declared that the role of his force was to maintain peace and tranquility at the border but it would not “shy away from flexing its muscles”. In another interview, he also talked about the so-called surgical strikes conducted against Pakistan across the LoC.

Immediately after, the ISPR chief, Major Gen Asif Ghafoor, tweeted that the COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa rejected the claim of India's Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, who had said in a recent interview that the 'so-called surgical strikes' were meant to send out a message. "Pakistan's armed forces are fully geared to respond to any aggression by India," Ghafoor quoted Bajwa as saying.

The army chief also turned down the possibility of reoccurrence of any such attack, which the Indian Army chief had hinted. Three things should be noted with regard to the statements being made by the new Indian Army chief.

First, the new Indian Army chief seems to be still unsure about his position and is apparently making such provocative statements to garner support of the Indian public and the media, which have criticized the Indian Army failures in the held Valley. More than 60 Indian Army soldiers have been killed in the Valley in the last six months or so and many more injured in ambushes carried out by local residents seeking justice and right of self determination for the Kashmiris. And that is putting a lot of pressure on the regional command and the new Indian Army chief.

Second, there were no surgical strikes against Pakistan; no proof has ever been shared with the international media or the Indian public in this regard. One is not sure if the Indians are terming frequent shelling at the homes of Pakistani civilians and other infrastructure or recent targeting of a Pakistani bus that killed 10 passengers as surgical strikes. The Indians should again read about the Entebbe raid, which was a surgical strike to free hostages.

Third, the Pakistan Army has made it clear on their Indian counterparts that attacks like targeting of a civilian bus would get instant and effective response at the place and time of its choosing. There would be strong retaliation should attempts are made to carry out real surgical strikes.

Interestingly, the outgoing Indian Army chief, General Dalbir Singh, said in his last address he had promised “more than adequate, immediate and intense” response to any action, and the Indian Army had delivered on it during the two and a half years he was at the helm. He boasted that the Indian Army was fully prepared and well trained to undertake any challenge, be it external or internal. The outgoing general thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for giving the Army a “free hand” in conducting operations.

He declared: “The Indian Army is the finest and the strongest Army in the world. Our leaders are most competent and unit leaders lead from the front and soldiers are bravest. I want to assure the nation that Indian Army is fully prepared, well trained to undertake any challenges, be it external or internal.”

The outgoing chief of “the finest force and strongest army” should now comment on Dr Happymon Jacob's opinion piece for The Hindu. A teacher of Disarmament and National Security at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Dr Jacob categorically stated: “The multiple crises afflicting the Indian Army have far-reaching national security implications. Clearly, a military force with sharp internal divisions and discontent in the ranks can pose challenges for the country’s national security and the morale and cohesion of the fighting forces. Such a pervasive sense of intra-service victim-hood and discrimination can further deteriorate the strength of a force which currently has a shortage of over 9,000 officers.” He also urged the Indian Army to concentrate on the welfare of the army as a whole and not just consider the benefits of its regiments alone. Surgical strikes, the finest force and what not. The Indian Army breathes rhetoric but reality.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/177832-Surgical-strikes-that-never-were

 

[AyanRay]

First, the new Indian Army chief seems to be still unsure about his position and is apparently making such provocative statements to garner support of the Indian public and the media, which have criticized the Indian Army failures in the held Valley

I don't know why this Pakistanis fail to understand that India is not Pakistan. Here the army acts on the instruction of the Govt and not the other way round. Army does not have to garner support from the public, that's the politicians job. Surgical Strike was also a political decision, carried out by the army. That's how normal democracy works, where the ruling govt is not the puppet of the military chief.

 

[Imran Khan]

you see that daal and burnt paratha ? this is how solders do surgical strikes

 

[F86 Saber]

They feed their soldiers less so that they don't need to do "Surgical Strikes" too often.