Balakot Airstrikes: Pakistan Responded After 30 Hours Only for Their Domestic Audience, Says IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria

New Delhi, February 28: On the first anniversary of Balakot airstrikes, RKS Bhadauria, the Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief, took a dig at Pakistan and said it responded to the airstrikes 30 hours later only to show their domestic audience that they were retaliating back to the airstrikes by India. While speaking at the Centre for Air Power Studies in Delhi, Bhadauria said IAF successfully struck target chosen and the Pakistan Air Force responded after a long time with a large package of aircraft under Operation Swift Retort. However, he said, IAF ensured that Pakistan Air Force weren't able to hit targets.

Taking a dig at Pakistan, he said Pakistan was in a hurry to disengage and its forces were doing it for their domestic audience. Giving details about the airstrikes, the IAF Chief stated that India had an edge over Pakistan Air Force in terms of Beyond Visual Range Missile capability at the time of Kargil. "We allowed that to slip and thereafter it took a decade & half in our struggle to acquisition process to be able to get better capability", he said. Balakot Airstrikes 1st Anniversary: Timeline of Events That Unfolded on February 26, 2019.

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The IAF Chief said better capability will soon materialize with induction of Rafale. "In air engagement, especially in a deeply contested area, it is important to to have a weapons edge. Once we retain this edge, it is important that we don't allow to slip back this edge", he said. Pakistan Said Indian Air Force Violated Airspace After IAF Strikes JeM Camps Across LoC in Balakot.

In the same event, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said that the message of Balakot was very clear that the kind of proxy war perpetrated on our people will not be tolerated. Rawat said the credible deterrence comes from the will of the military leadership and intent of political leadership while taking the tough decision and this was amply shown after Kargil, Uri attacks and Pulwama attack.

The Balakot airstrike was conducted by India in the early morning hours of February 26 when Indian warplanes dropped bombs in the vicinity of the town of Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Pakistan responded the next day, i.e. on February 27, causing an Indian warplane to be shot down and its pilot- Abhinandan Vardhaman to be taken prisoner by the Pakistan military before being returned on March 1.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2020 10:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).