Indian Army's cross-LoC raid: Reading the fine print

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

The Indian Army, still hurting after losing 18 soldiers in a cross-Line of Control (LoC) terrorist strike on one of its camps in Uri, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) on September 18, claimed on Thursday that it had carried out a “surgical strike” on a terrorist “launch pad” in Pakistan-controlled territory across the LoC.

Addressing a hastily-convened press conference in New Delhi, the army’s director general of military operations (DGMO), Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, read out a pre-prepared statement, in which he stated: “Significant casualties have been caused to terrorists and those trying to shield them. We don’t have a plan to further conduct such strikes. India has spoken to Pakistan”.

The DGMO claimed that “significant casualties” had been inflicted on the terrorists, and “those who support them” - presumably referring to the Pakistan Army.

Few details were shared about the claimed operation. The DGMO, who took no questions after his statement, did not clarify whether Indian troops had actually crossed the LoC physically, or whether the surgical strikes were carried out by targeting the terrorist launch pad with missiles, rockets and artillery - in what the army refers to as a “fire assault”.

The Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), stated this morning: "The notion of surgical strike linked to alleged terrorists bases is an illusion being deliberately generated by India to create false effects. This quest by Indian establishment to create media hype by rebranding cross border fire as surgical strike is fabrication of truth. Pakistan has made it clear that if there is a surgical strike on Pakistani soil, same will be strongly responded," the ISPR said.

While fire assaults have occasionally taken place in the past, and physical crossing of the LoC by Indian Army raiding parties have taken place less frequently, no Indian government has ever officially acknowledged either.

The government has been under heavy pressure to respond to the Uri terror attack, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweeted promise that the Uri killers “would not go unpunished”. The DGMO had also stated immediately after the Uri attack that the army would respond “at a time and place of [its] choosing.” 

The DGMO suggested that the Indian Army is on full alert, bracing itself for a Pakistani response. So far, Pakistan’s army and government has been dismissive of Indian claims, which would suggest that the situation might not escalate uncontrollably.