ISLAMABAD – During a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Securityon Tuesday, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval told Prime MinisterNarendra Modi that the three branches of the country’s defence forces —army, Air Force, and navy were ready for another actionagainst Pakistan, India TV News reported.
Modi reportedly asked the military to make sure that no civilians died theneighbouring country and that the targets be military-related, Russian NewsAgency Sputnik has reported.
Neither India’s Defence Ministry, nor the Modi government has confirmed thereports yet.
The development comes just a day after local media cited theDirector-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations as sayingthat Islamabad was entitled to use any means of self-defence — a claimwhich followed weeks of denial that Pakistan had used a US-built F-16 in a27 February dogfight with India.
“Whether it was F16 or JF17 which shot down 2 Indian aircraft isimmaterial. Even if F-16s have been used as at that point in time completePAF was airborne including F16s, the fact remains that Pakistan AirForce shot down two Indian jets in self-defence. India can assume any type[of plane] of their choice even F-16. Pakistan retains the right to useanything and everything in its legitimate self-defence”, the officialreportedly said.
The militaries of the nuclear arms-wielding nations have come up withcompeting claims regarding the aerial combat on 27 February over the Lineof Control in the disputed area of Kashmir: while Islamabad alleged it hadbrought down two Indian planes, New Delhi admitted to the loss of only oneof its aircraft and made a counter-claim, saying it had destroyed aPakistani F-16.
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Pakistan has flatly denied that US-made F-16s were either deployed or lost,while India claimed that Islamabad could have violated the fighter jet’ssale deal with the United States.
The tensions between the two neighbours, who have been embroiled in aconflict since 1947, were exacerbated by a deadly suicide bomb attackallegedly claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e Mohammad on a convoy of Indianmilitary personnel in Pulwama on 14 February. In response to the attack,the Indian Air Force conducted an air raid on a suspected terrorist campin Balakot on 26 February, later claiming it had killed 300 terrorists.
Pakistan has denied the existence of any such camps in the area, with localmedia citing locals as saying that besides hitting some 15 pine trees, onlyone elderly villager was hurt in the air raid. The following day, the twocountries’ aircraft engaged in a fierce dogfight over Kashmir; since thenboth sides have been involved in sporadic fighting over the de facto border.
