Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday sought to rein in his colleagues’ sabre rattling in the face of Opposition naysayers by instructing his ministerial colleagues to restrain themselves and avoid creating hysteria around the sensitive issue of surgical strikes.
Mr Modi’s reaction to the on-going political slugfest over the surgical strikes came during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, while the feasibility of releasing some evidence of the strikes was being deliberated upon.
The Prime Minister cautioned his colleagues to avoid commenting out of turn, saying only authorised people in the government should speak on the matter.
Despite a section of the Congress and Aam Admi Party questioning the authenticity of the surgical strikes, sources said the government is not likely to take any hasty decision on releasing the evidence.
Minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir confirmed on Wednesday that the Army had provided to the government video evidence of the strikes at the terror launchpads across the LoC before dawn on September 29.
The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by the Prime Minister, also met on Wednesday and discussed various possibilities, including the fallout in case some edited portions of the evidence is released. The CCS also took note of a report submitted by the country’s two top intelligence agencies — Research & Analysis Wing and the Intelligence Bureau — “strongly” advising against releasing any form of evidence related to the surgical strikes.
The intelligence agencies’ report, shared with the CCS by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, categorically stated that releasing any evidence would hugely compromise the possibility of any such operations in the future.
“Any evidence provided at this stage would be analysed by the Pakistani agencies and they will not only point out further loopholes in it but also try and understand the modus operandi of our security forces. It is for this reason that the intelligence agencies are strongly opposing releasing evidence in any form. Even the domestic constituency which is asking the government for evidence needs to understand this,” a senior security official said.
Top government sources confirmed to this newspaper that the security establishment has enough evidence regarding the military operations, both in terms of video footage as well as still photographs, and one of the two agencies has also provided the government with satellite images of the launchpads which were targeted at four different locations in Lipa, Kel, Tatapani (Hotspring) and Bhimber by the Special Forces’ commandos.
One of the two intelligence agencies was closely monitoring developments at the launchpads through satellite images and shared it with the Army to help them plan their operation. The manner in which intelligence for the surgical strikes was developed was a critical component of the entire operation.
The NSA also informed the CCS on Wednesday that Pakistan is planning to push in around 100 militants into the Kashmir Valley before the onset of winter for which the Pakistan Army has activiated 12 launchpads close to the border again. The militants have been specifically instructed to target vital military installations in the Valley.
