Pahalgam attack aftermath: Hit-back set to be calibrated, short of full-fledged conflict
punitive strikes against Pakistan
, without crossing the LoC, is currently being considered the preferred military option. This comes amid a review of the situation by the PM-led cabinet committee on security, even as firing exchanges between the rival armies have now spilled over to the international boundary in J&K.
Indian Army warned Pakistan Army to desist from "unprovoked" small arms firings being initiated by its troops all along the 778-km LoC, from Kupwara, Baramulla and Uri to Naushera, Sunderbani, Akhnoor and Poonch, over the DGMO hotline on Tuesday afternoon.
"But later in the night, Pak Army escalated the situation by opening fire in Pargwal sector of the 198-km IB in Jammu region. Our troops are effectively responding in double measure to all ceasefire violations," an officer told TOI.
The CCS meeting Wednesday, the second since the Pahalgam massacre on April 22, came a day after PM Modi told the military chiefs they had "complete operational freedom" to decide on the "mode, targets and timing" of the country's response to crush terrorism.
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Consequently, it is no longer a question if kinetic military options will be exercised but when, while the public messaging was also clearly meant to keep Pakistan on tenterhooks. "The plans for punitive strikes and the graded dynamic response strategy are already in place. It won't be a knee-jerk response but a calculated, credible and calibrated one under the threshold of a full-fledged conflict," a senior officer told TOI.
With Pakistan already on guard and mobilising its forces as well as activating its entire air defence machinery, there is however no element of surprise left. A feasible immediate step is for the Indian Army to launch concentrated fire assaults by 155 mm artillery guns, 120 mm mortars and anti-tank guided missiles against Pak Army posts and positions as well as "terror launch pads" located near them.
"Without crossing the LoC, use of other long-range vectors can also impose serious costs on Pak Army and their infrastructure along the frontier. There are reports Pak Army is facing major shortages of 155 mm artillery shells, with its reserves being sent to Ukraine through third-party channels to make money," he said.
Then, there are shallow cross-border ground raids that can be carried out by Army Para-Special Forces like the "surgical strikes" conducted in Sept 2016 against terror launch pads in four different locations in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack at Uri.
Calibrated air strikes also remain an effective though escalatory step, much like the one conducted against the JeM terror facility at Balakot in Pakistan in Feb 2019. "The IAF did not have the 4.5-generation Rafale fighters during the Balakot air strikes. This time the targets can be the headquarters of JeM at Bahawalpur or LeT at Muridke," another officer said.
This will involve jets like Rafales, Mirage-2000s and Sukhoi-30MKIs, armed with long-range weapons like the French 'Scalp' air-to-ground cruise missiles, Israeli Crystal Maze missiles and Spice-2000 precision guided penetration bombs, hitting pre-designated targets, as reported by TOI earlier.
The military options are being contemplated after a raft of retaliatory diplomatic measures against Pakistan were announced when the CCS met on April 23, which ranged from the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty to downsizing of the Pakistani high commission and revocation of visas of all Pakistani nationals in India.
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