IAF chief says happy to tackle 'ghost of Balakot' during Operation Sindoor

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Saturday said the non-availability of images of the damage caused by the Balakot air strike became a "big issue", and people could not be convinced about what was achieved, but during Operation Sindoor, that "ghost of Balakot" was taken care of.

Singh, who was delivering the 16th Air Chief Marshal L M Katre Memorial Lecture here, said the Indian Air Force (IAF) shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and a large aircraft during Operation Sindoor, in the largest-ever recorded surface-to-air kill by India. He provided a detailed account of Operation Sindoor with visuals and slides.

"When we did Balakot, we did something similar (to Operation Sindoor)," he said, and added that there were no images available, and it became a big issue.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't tell our own people as to what we have been able to achieve. We had intelligence that there had been huge damage; there were so many terrorists who were neutralised, but we could not convince our own people. But (this time) we were lucky, and we got these videos out in the open," he said.

"I am happy that we could take care of that ghost of Balakot," he asserted.

India carried out air strikes in Balakot, targeting a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group.

The Indian strikes were in response to a terror attack, carried out in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir by a suicide bomber, resulting in the death of 40 CRPF personnel.

PTI