ISLAMABAD – Simhakutty Varthaman, retired Indian air marshal and fatherof Wing Commander Abhinandan who was briefly held in custody in Pakistan,claimed that Pakistan’s F-16 purportedly deployed in a 27 February dogfightand its AMRAAM missiles were a “real threat” to New Delhi, *The Timesof India* reported.
“The Indian Air Force strike happened when the maximum targets wereinside the camp. The structural damage might be limited, but the fuseof the bomb is delayed to ensure maximum casualties. Pakistan’s F-16s andAMRAAM missiles were the real threat to us. We had to first get F-16soff our back by making sure they were headed to some other direction whenwe were going to Balakot”.
Speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras on Wednesday, he saidthat the laser-guided smart bombs used to attack a suspected Jaish-eMohammad camp at Balakot could have killed 250 to 300 terrorists*.*
Varthaman then added that India had launched seven aircrafttowards Bahawalpur, which he claimed was the “headquarters” of Jaish-eMohammad.
“Pakistan thought we were on the way to attack Bahawalpur and sent F-16sto engage with our fighter aircraft. Simultaneously, we launched aircraftto attack Balakot. In a nutshell, the Pakistan Air Force was deceivedcompletely. Pakistan was in a total state of alert, they knew an attackfrom India was imminent. However, they did not realise that we gotinto their territory”, he said.
*The Times of India* cited Varthaman as saying that the Balakot strike wasthe first time that IAF aircraft had crossed the Line of Control (de factoborder) since the 1971 war with Pakistan.
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“When fighter aircraft fly 10 km within the border, radars alert us to turnback. If a pilot goes within 8 km of the border, he faces a lotof questions and inquiry. As a nation, we decided to violate this hugethumb rule and went inside Pakistan. But, the government clearly mentionedthat it was a non-military, pre-emptive strike”, he said.
Varthaman went on to say that the choice of the target had been stipulatedby the desire to “avoid civilian casualties”:
“The facility was located in a thick forest on a hilltop far awayfrom civilian presence”.
Relations between India and Pakistan further deteriorated after a suicideattack allegedly claimed by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e Mohammadthat killed over 40 Indian soldiers on 14 February. Following the attack,New Delhi accused Islamabad of supporting terrorists – a claim, flatlydenied by Pakistan as “unsubstantiated”. – Sputnik
