IAF Basks In Post-Balakot Limelight

The IAF Chief expressed commitment to the ‘Make in India’ agenda with the acknowledgement that “to achieve true strategic autonomy, we need to focus on indigenous design and manufacturing”

- Vishal Thapar

The Indian Air Force (IAF) Celebrated Its Post-Balakot emergence as a cross-border counter-insurgency strike force and the premier instrument of hard national power in a no war no peace scenario at its 87th Raising Day Parade and Flypast at the Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi.

In over three decades of the unrelenting proxy war against India, the IAF was kept on the margins, restricted to passive air maintenance for ground troops waging largely defensive operations. The February 26 airstrike on the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist training camp at Balakot in Pakistan changed all that, and the IAF has grabbed the opportunity with alacrity and intent to deliver the coup de gras.

The new Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria shared the elation of his force but was quick to acknowledge that this turning point also places exceptional responsibility and expectation on the IAF to dominate the escalation ladder.

“The strategic relevance of this (the Balakot strike) is the resolve of the political leadership to punish the perpetrators of terrorism and the capability of IAF to execute a strike inside Pakistan. This has been a major shift in the Govt’s way of handling terrorist attacks. We must always be ready to respond to any contingency. To ensure operational success in all future operations, we need a high serviceability of combat equipment and exceptional training standards,” he stated in his written message for Air Force Day.