Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told a Parliamentary panel on Tuesday that although the Army had carried out counter-terrorist military strikes in the past, this was the first time the central government made such a military exercise public.
The bureaucrat told the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs headed by Shashi Tharoor that the Indian Army has previously carried out such “professionally done, target-specific, limited calibre counter-terrorist operations” strikes across the LoC, sources present at the meeting said. The statement appears to contradict claims of “never-before” strikes made by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Last week, the minister had rejected Congress’s claims of having conducted similar military exercises under the UPA regime, calling the previous operations “locally executed” by commanders without involving the government.
Jaishankar also told the Committee that while India has been engaging with Pakistan post the September 29 surgical strikes, but no “calendar” has so far been prepared regarding future engagement and its level with Islamabad, members said on condition of anonymity.
He said soon after the operations had ended, the Director General Military Operations of the Pakistan Army was informed about the strikes.
Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Bipin Rawat, also gave details of the strikes targeting terrorist launch pads across the LoC and about the casualty they could inflict on the terrorists. The officials said the Army had crossed the LoC to carry out strikes and not to collect evidence.
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