Indian soldiers crossed the LoC for surgical strikes on Pakistani terrorists last month (File)
Highlights
- Congress, Kejriwal had urged govt to share proof of surgical strikes
- Diplomatic, political call for the government to take: Army sources
- Experts say details shouldn't be shared, would compromise techniques
In the middle of political sparring over last week's surgical strikes, the suggestion that the government should share evidence to counter Pakistan's propaganda has provoked sharp disapproval from army and intelligence experts, with one ex-chief calling the idea "disturbing".
Here are 10 developments in the story:
"It is a diplomatic and political call for the government to take," top army sources have told NDTV, on calls by Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress for evidence of the raids across the Line of Control.
Former army chief General JJ Singh said: "Footage of the strikes should not be released under any circumstance. Releasing the footage amounts to disbelieving the military."
General Singh, who was chief in 2004-5, said releasing the footage will "severely compromise our methods and tactics."
Former army chief General Shankar Roychowdhury agreed that India should "definitely not" put out anything on the strikes in the public domain as Pakistan's army and intelligence are waiting to pounce on information about India's operational techniques.
"It is an ongoing operation and the ISI (Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence) and Pakistan army are eagerly looking forward to whatever they can pick up, particularly from the Indian media, because 80 per cent of all intelligence comes from open sources," said General Roychowdhury, who was army chief from 1994 to 1997.
After midnight last Wednesday, Indian troops targeted seven terror launch pads or staging areas in Pakistan Occupied Territory. The army said "significant casualties" had been caused in the strikes seen as retaliation for the terror attack on an army camp in Kashmir's Uri last month in which 19 soldiers were killed.
Pakistan says the surgical strikes never took place and were really nothing more than "cross-border firing".
Opposition Congress leaders and Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, say proof of the strikes must be shared by the government, a suggestion that has been roundly criticised by the ruling BJP.
Military sources have confirmed that footage of the strikes-filmed in part by drones - was submitted last week to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At a meeting this morning of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by the Prime Minister, sources say, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said that nearly 100 terrorists are being prepped to cross the Line of Control and launch attacks in India.
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