If Pakistan Wants Proof of Surgical Strikes, India Should Oblige

Delhi is still weighing the diplomatic impact of releasing the surgical strikes’ video, writes Surya Gangadharan.

The more insistently Islamabad claims there was no surgical strike by India, the greater is the embarrassment to the generals when the footage is released. (Representational Image: Lijumol Joseph/ The Quint)

(This piece is being published in the backdrop of international media casting aspersions on whether India carried out surgical strikes across the LoC in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir after the Uri terror attack on 18 September)

The decision to release the footage taken during the army’s surgical strike on Pakistan’s terror launch pads across the Line of Control, will be a political one. That’s what sources are telling The Quint.

The thinking at this point is Pakistan must be given enough rope in the form of its own lies and denials. The more insistently Islamabad claims there was no surgical strike by India, the greater is the embarrassment to the generals when the footage is released.

Also Read: What If Surgical Strikes Never Happened, Asks International Media

Media Taken to Residential Areas in PoK

International media based in Islamabad were flown to areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to claim that all was well. But reports suggest they were shown only residential areas, a fact which the Pakistani Inter Service Public Relations appears to have acknowledged.

A source in Delhi said: “They will be tied up in the knots of their own denials,” and was hopeful the footage would be released soon. For now, all we have is Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s cryptic remark: “Just wait and watch.”

Also Read: Baramulla Shows Why Indian Soldiers Need to be on Constant Vigil

Sensitive Footage May Have Been Deleted

The video taken during the assault is presently in Delhi. It has been extensively viewed, portions may have been edited to ensure the anonymity of those who carried out the attack.

Anything that could give a clue to operational details including conversation between the men of the assaulting unit, would have been deleted by now.

Anything which could give an idea about the terrain the team traversed before hitting the target, would also have been deleted.

Also Read: Surgical Strikes Should Follow Terror Acts by Pakistan in Future

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh interacts with different delegations in Leh on 3 October 2016. Also seen is Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. (Photo: IANS/PIB)

Proof of Surgical Strikes

• Media personnel were taken to residential areas in PoK instead of the exact location where the confrontation took place.
  
• Video of the assault is presently in Delhi, with parts of it being edited to ensure anonymity of those who carried out the strikes.
  
• Sensitive details like the conversation or any such information that could hint about the terrain the team traversed may have been deleted.
  
• India should be prepared to go on diplomatic overdrive if it decides to release the footage in a bid to isolate Pakistan.
  

India Has Little to Gain by Releasing the Footage

There are some who believe little purpose will be served by releasing the footage. It is not going to transform Pakistan’s attitude, nor will it influence its allies like China to modify its policy of unstinted support for Islamabad. India can always share privately, with its friends and partners, the footage which will add strength to the evidence about Pakistan backing terror groups.

But diplomacy is a cynical exercise, a diplomat pointed out. Evidence has not been lacking in the past about Pakistani support for terror groups, about the sanctuary it provides to the Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammed or the Taliban. But it has not persuaded the world to isolate and sanction Pakistan.

Also Read: Surgical Strikes: Modi Maintains his Predictable Unpredictability

No Hue and Cry Over Abbottabad Operation

Washington, for all its verbal support for India, never named Pakistan as being behind the Uri attack even though it’s pretty clear where they would have come from, Uri being a bowl with Pakistan dominating the surrounding hills. When it comes to national interest, truth is the first casualty.

There is also the fact that the US has never released footage of the operation in Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Oddly, Pakistan never had a problem acknowledging this happened on its soil (with or without its connivance is unclear). Perhaps that stance helped them draw closer to Washington and secure millions of dollars in military aid.

It also underscored the fact how little public anger about the blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereign borders by a foreign army, mattered to its military.

Also Read: Pakistan Will Retaliate at a Time and Place of Their Choosing

Be Prepared For Diplomatic Overdrive

As and when the footage is made public, and provided it is convincing enough, India needs to go on a diplomatic overdrive to show the world more proof about Pakistani involvement in terror. It must be shared with Bangladesh and Afghanistan that have been at the receiving end of Pakistani mischief.

India could even hand over the footage to Pakistan. This is not a joke. If Pakistan wants proof that terror launch pads on its soil were attacked and destroyed, why not oblige them?

(The writer is former international affairs editor, CNN-IBN and NDTV. He can be reached at @suryagang. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)