2 yrs post ‘surgical strikes’ , firing across LoC up 4 times

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 26

Two years after the ‘surgical strikes’, firing from across the LoC in Pakistan has risen four times while infiltration by terrorists continues unabated. A positive development is that the number of ultras getting killed at the LoC has risen.

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army hit at multiple terror camps inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and destroyed terror launch pads.

To mark two years of the ‘surgical strikes’, the government has planned ‘Parakram Parv’ celebrations at 53 locations across 51 cities.  Since the ‘surgical strikes’, the LoC and the IB that divide Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan have been “peaceful” and “quiet” only in sporadic bursts.

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat today said “the strikes were a message that we will not hesitate to cross (the LoC). Despite that (strikes), infiltration continues and violence is being fanned in the Valley”.

Immediately after the strikes, India-Pakistan ties, expectedly, were on a downward spiral marked with frequent exchanges of fire, prompting assessments of it being “the most tense” period since the November 2003 ceasefire along the border.

However, counting the number of ceasefire violations cannot be a benchmark to assess the level or intensity of firing from across. Even one bullet fired is a violation and a mortar, that travels up to 10 km, is also counted as same. A senior officer said modern surveillance gadgets such as night vision and thermal imagers made it difficult to physically reach an enemy post and firing, therefore, remained the most viable military reply.