ISLAMABAD: Former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria admitted that India only has narratives but no concrete proof of the success of the 2019 Balakot strikes.
He made this revelation during an interview with The Wire to mark the launch of his recently published book “Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan”.
“You will perhaps never know for sure how successful the strike was,” the former envoy said during the interview.
This is the first time an Indian senior diplomat who was serving as Indian high commissioner in Islamabad at the time of the Balakot strike has admitted to the media that to date India has no proof of the targets the Indian Air Force had boasted it had struck in Balakot.
India had conducted an airstrike in Balakot on February 26, 2019, while Pakistan responded by conducting airstrikes in Indian-held territory and an ensuing dogfight, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets shot down two Indian jets and captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
Earlier when the book was published, a senior source at the Pakistan Foreign Office told The News that the former Indian high commissioner “has certainly given an exaggerated account of the events. The timing of the release of the book is also suspicious. Clearly, he wants to project Modi as a strong leader who has the ability to take bold decisions.”
During The Wire interview, conducted by journalist Karan Thapar, Bisaria had, according to Thapar, discussed that the terrorists behind the Pulwama attack of February 2019 “lucked out in getting an unprotected target in a convoy of vehicles” and thus “met with unexpected success”.
