Surgical strikes were carried out by Indian soldiers on Pakistani terrorist launch pads in 2016.
Two days before the second anniversary of the Indian Army's surgical strikes across the Line of Control on Pakistani terrorist launch pads, the government has released new footage of the operation that was designed to avenge the 2016 terror attack on a military camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri and have since then become a political football between the opposition and the ruling BJP.
The footage, shot from drones, thermal cameras and the soldiers who took part in the operation shows the army's fire assault on four targets including terrorist launch pads, overhead footage from unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs and a Pakistani posts close to the areas used to push terrorists across the Line of Control into Indian territory.
Indian troops had crossed the Line of Control in September 2016 to take out terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, weeks after Pakistani terrorists attacked an army base in Uri in Kashmir in the deadliest attack on the military. 19 soldiers were killed.
This week, the Indian government has organised a three-day event called 'Parakram Parv' to celebrate the armed forces on the anniversary of the surgical strikes.
The main event between September 28 and 30 will be organised at the India Gate lawns in Delhi besides similar events at 53 locations in 51 cities across the country to "highlight the valour of the Indian armed forces in general and special forces in particular". Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will open the event tomorrow in the heart of the capital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate an exhibition for the event at the Jodhpur Military Station tomorrow, government sources told news agency IANS.
Opposition parties have alleged that since 2016, the BJP has used the surgical strikes for political gain and it was not the first operation of its kind.
BJP leaders including the Prime Minister have referred to the operation at political rallies, pitching it as proof of their decisive governance.
Last week, the government was forced to clarify that a directive to observe the second anniversary of the surgical strikes in universities and colleges through lectures and parades was not a mandatory order after it sparked criticism.