India Won't Release Proof of Surgical Strike, Doesn't Want to Escalate Tensions

New Delhi: India will not release any proof of the Army’s surgical strikes, top sources have told CNN-News18, seeking to draw a line under the ongoing debate on whether it would or should reveal additional evidence about the commando operation that took place in the wee hours of September 30.

New Delhi believes releasing footage of the operation that destroyed terror launch pads inside Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) will only escalate the tension between the two-nuclear-armed neighbours and could lead to a war-like situation.

One top government source told CNN-News18 that New Delhi also feels releasing footage of the raid could undermine India’s successful diplomatic efforts to isolate Pakistan because the “proof” could be construed as evidence of “wrong-doing” on India’s part.

“India has impeccable proof but giving proof would make us look as if we are answerable to Pakistan,” the source said, requesting anonymity since he is not authorized to speak to media.

The call to cross the LoC shows the will of India’s political leadership and that the strike was planned for over 10 days since the Uri terror attack on September 18, the sources said. The Army plans received a “Go” from the top political authority of the country and were finally executed on September 29 midnight.

The sources said while India has intensively engaged with the global and south Asian diplomatic community after the Uri attacks, no other country knew of the surgical strikes before the operations were over.

New Delhi is now closely watching the Pak reaction, and will step up response if there is any provocation from Islamabad, the sourced said.

Indian Army special forces carried out surgical strikes along a 250-km arc across the Line of Control (LoC) into PoK in several sectors on the wee hours of September 30 destroying “terror launchpads”. The raid came in retaliation to the fidayeen attack by Pakistan-based terrorists in an Indian Army camp in Uri on September 18 that killed 18 Indian soldiers.

Pakistan has all the while maintained that what transpired on September 30 was routine cross-border firing and there were no surgical strikes. The issue became a political hot potato after a few Congress leaders, BSP and AAP demanded the Narendra Modi government furnish proofs to refute the Pakistani claim.