The Balakot airstrike was India’s revenge against Pakistan for the cowardly terrorist attack in Pulwama on 14 February 2019. India gave a strong message to the whole world including Pakistan against the terrorists that India follows a zero tolerance policy against terrorism.
In today’s blog, we will give complete information about the Pulwama attack and the Balakot airstrike carried out by India after that, which will give you an opportunity to know about India’s military valor.
Background: The Pulwama Attack
On 14th February 2019, Pakistan sponsored terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out a cowardly and suicidal attack on a convoy of CRPF jawans in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 Indian jawans were martyred.
This terror attack became one of the deadliest incidents in the history of India and it shook the whole country and every citizen of India yearned for revenge. The Indian government also vowed to take strict action against all the culprits involved in the Pulwama attack and later Jaish-e-Mohammed took responsibility for the attack.
Why India Carried Out the Balakot Airstrike
India has been adopting the path of dialogue with Pakistan from the very beginning and India has always warned Pakistan several times to deal with terrorism and said that if they are not dealt with, India will hand over the terrorists to India, but the Pulwama attack changed that line and India changed its strategy to deal with terrorism and the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to take strict action so that a strong message could be given to Pakistan and the terrorists sitting in Pakistan.
India started investigating the Pulwama attack and when the revenge plan was fully formed, on 26 February 2019, the Indian Air Force with 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets carried out an airstrike on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps located in Balakot, Pakistan and reports suggest that a large number of terrorists were killed in it.
And India termed this airstrike as a non-military attack against terrorists and said that this attack was done against the terror infrastructure rather than the Pakistani army.
By taking revenge in this way, India surprised the whole world including Pakistan because for the first time after the Indo-Pak war of 1971, the Indian Air Force crossed the Line of Control which was enough to give a strong message to Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Response
Initially Pakistan denied any major losses from the Balakot airstrike but in revenge it tried to attack Indian military installations on the Line of Control and India continued to retaliate and in this air battle IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan was killed when his Mig-21 Bison aircraft crashed in Pakistan.
After this incident tension between the two countries reached its peak and both sides started their diplomatic and military moves and finally due to Indian and international pressure Pakistan released Wing Commander Abhinandan as a sign of peace.
Impact on Indo-Pak Relations
By taking revenge, India sent a message to Pakistan that India will not hesitate to take action against terrorism.
Pakistan was under global pressure to take action against terrorist groups thriving on its soil.
After this incident, India started focusing on modernization of its defense forces.
Global Reaction
Following the Balakot airstrikes, there were some reactions from the international community:
United States: The US supported India and urged both countries to exercise restraint.
United Nations: The United Nations called for de-escalation of tensions between the two countries.
China – China called on both countries to resolve the issue diplomatically.
Conclusion
The Balakot airstrike by India was a strong message to the terrorists whose impact will be remembered by Pakistan forever. Pakistan and the terrorists it shelters will think 1000 times before attacking next time.
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