"We were ready to strike", former Air Chief, ACM BS Dhanoa.

Former Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, on Thursday, said that India was ready to wipe out Pakistan's forward bridges had Islamabad's "military adventure" been successful in response to the Balakot aerial strikes and added that "our military posture was very offensive".

His remarks came after PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq said in the National Assembly that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had in an important meeting pointed out that if Pakistan did not release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, India would attack Pakistan "that night by 9 PM".

"Abhinandan's father and I served together. So, when Abhinandan ejected I told him that we could not get Ahuja back but will definitely get Abhinandan back. During the Kargil war, my flight commander Ahuja was captured and shot dead. That was playing on my mind. I told him that there are two parts. The main pressure on Pakistan was diplomatic and political. But there was also a military posture", Dhanoa told ANI.

"The way he (Pakistan MP) is saying that 'Pair kaanp rahe the' (legs were trembling). It is because the military posture was very offensive......God forbid if there are military misadventure on the 27th and hit some of our military installations, we were in a position to wipe out their forward brigades. They know what our capability is", he said.

Wing Commander Varthaman had shot down a Pakistani F-16 which had transgressed into the Indian airspace during a dog fight between Indian and Pakistani air forces on 27 Feb 2019, his plane crossed over to the Pakistani side and was shot down. Abhinandan was returned to India from the Attari-Wagah border on 01 Mar 2019.

ACM Dhanoa, who was the Air Chief when the aerial strikes took place in Pakistan, said that the Indian military could not strike to secure Abhinandan's release but it could put pressure on the Pakistan military. "But that decision is political. Whether we need to go to war. Suppose strike on the 27th had been successful, then to what extent do we respond. Do we respond with a full-scale war or only hitting their forward brigades opposite us? This is a political decision", he said.

The former IAF chief said that the Balakot strike had put fear into Jaish-e-Mohammad and their Pakistani handlers that India can hit them in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as well as in Pakistan. "Till the time Indian elections got over, there was nothing because they knew the response was going to be very swift. We were deployed in this manner that we could at very short notice. It is very good for the morale that he was released at such a short period of time and he came back unharmed", he said. 

Tailpiece.

Got up half an hour later than usual, being a Sunday. The chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. It was a quiet and lazy Sunday.

Participated in a webinar on "Green Jobs And Green Economy" by N Balagopal, Vice Chairman, PN Panicker Foundation from 1430 - 1530 hrs. It's our action plan for the next couple of years!