Doval follows the beaten track

The Indian National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, believes in tested, tried but failed formulas that do not deliver on foreign policy front but sell well at home. After taking his position once again with more powers, he is trying to sell again the unsuccessful and embarrassing Indian strike at Balakot. Hence new details, mostly fabricated, have been released that would capture dense Indian public incapable of thinking of its own.

According to a report released to the Indian media recently, when the Indian Air Force sent 12 Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft to attack the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot on February 26, it code-named it 'Operation Bandar (Monkey)', to maintain secrecy and ensure that the plans don't leak out while the Indian Army, which had taken up massive defensive and offensive measures in case Pakistan retaliated, had code named its operation ‘Zafran’.

“Monkeys have always held a special place in India's war culture as seen in the epic Ramayana, where Lord Rama’s lieutenant Lord Hanuman quietly sneaked into Lanka and destroyed the entire capital city of the demon Ravana,” said the report.

It further says: “The attacks carried out by the Indian Air Force pilots had dropped five Spice 2000 bombs out of which four penetrated the rooftops of the building in which the terrorists were sleeping. As per the Air Force briefings to the government, 80 per cent of the bombs had been dropped successfully on their targets and had carried out the requisite damage to the enemy locations. The operations were ably supported by the indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control systems (AEW&C) plane Netra. The Indian Air Force had also kept its team of Garud commandos on stand-by for any kind of operations that may have been required due to any kind of emergency there.”

Then it reveals that the Indian Air Force is also planning to reward the IAF pilots who took part in the attack with Vayu Sena Medal for Gallantry for their acts of bravery.

Earlier, Indian air chief Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa had claimed that technology was on India's side in the Balakot air strikes and that the strike on a "non-military target with precision at night, deep inside Pakistan demonstrates our ability to hit the perpetrators of violence in our country, wherever they may be". Never mind, the Spice formula and Indian intelligence failed miserably in correctly locating its planned target and hitting it. Nine pine trees in Balakot were not so lucky.

The Indian Army is also on the same shaky platform selling pack of lies to the Indian public with Northern Army commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh recently terming the IAF's Balakot airstrike on an alleged terrorist camp in Pakistan as a major achievement. "It was a major achievement wherein our aircrafts went deep into enemy territory and struck terror launch pads and camps," he claimed.

But perhaps the mostly mythical or failed surgical strikes are becoming too common. Some Congress leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have also claimed that several surgical strikes were conducted by the Indian Army during the UPA rule. Congress leader Rajiv Shukla had told reporters that not one or two but six surgical strikes were conducted during the tenure of the Manmohan Singh government. On the other hand, BJP Union Minister V K Singh, a former army chief, had denied knowledge of a surgical strike during his tenure and accused the Congress of lying about it.

With refusal to change policies towards Pakistan and hold talks, the Modi Sarkar follows the beaten track that would not deliver but earn further embarrassment for it. As it is, the Indian government does not want to retrain the nationalist sentiment to improve ties with Pakistan and bring stability and development to the region.