‘Was ready to retaliate after Pak air raid post Balakot’: Army vice chief

The Indian Army was ready to respond on February 27, the day the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) tried to retaliate after the Balakot airstrike, Vice Chief of Army Lieutenant General Debraj Anbu said on Friday.

“We looked at options” and a “limited response” across the Line of Control (LoC) was available and ready, General Anbu told Hindustan Times.

On February 27, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a PAF fighter jet over the LoC in the Nowshera sector before his capture and two-day detention by Pakistan forces. “In war, these things will happen,” General Anbu said.

The Indian Army, he said, is much “better prepared than ever before”. The government has delegated powers to the vice-chief of the three services to make “emergency purchases” to acquire “critical” spares and ammunition. “The special financial powers have helped us in our preparedness,” he said.

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General Anbu, who was the Northern Army Commander before taking over as the Vice Chief of Army Staff, feels that Kashmir’s return to normalcy will be a “long haul”.

He added that while the changes would be “incremental”, there was the possibility of a “movement” against the government’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status. “The situation needs to be handled firmly,” he said, adding that the “social media” narrative needs to be handled properly. “A positive narrative on social media would help,” he said.

Comparing the protests that had erupted in July 2016 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahedeen terrorist Burhan Wani and the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “The administration then had collapsed.”

Speaking about the situation along the border, he said, the border with Pakistan “is an active border unlike the border with China”.

“We need to assert over the adversary every day. Along with Kinetic Options, one needs to exercise control over the border as there are political and considerations that need to be kept in mind,” he said.

In contrast, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the disputed boundary with China - has an effective border management mechanism, he said. “No bullet has been fired, any situation between the two armies mostly gets sorted on the ground through established procedures,” General Anbu said.