14th February, a day of love “Valentine’s Day” when the entire world was pouring into the aroma of love, a suicide bomber owing to his allegiance to Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan based terrorist group rammed his vehicle filled with explosives into a bus of CRPF convoy killing almost 40 troops in the most blatant attack ever in Kashmir post 1989 when the militancy erupted in the state.
India was taken aback and it shook the entire nation. The whole world, in one go, started condemning the bloodshed attack. They voiced their concerns at the incompetence of Pakistani government who for its own political motives harbours the terrorist group on its soil.
The United States and France showed complete solidarity with India and mourned the death of the soldiers and lashed out at Pakistan. India wanted to avenge the death of its bravehearts and it started considering every option available to carry out a strike similar to the surgical strikes by India post the deadly Uri attack.
At a time when the forthcoming General Election in India is knocking at the door; when the Government and opposition parties are going back to the drawing board to spearhead the upcoming Elections in a phased manner, Pulwama attack came as a jolt and turned the table.
All eyes looked at just one thing; every heart craved for avenging the death of soldiers without wasting any time.
Strong leadership of PM Modi had the guts to go all guns blazing against Pakistan. Starting from Union Minister of water resources, Nitin Gadkari who came hard on Pakistan saying India will not allow the remaining unutilised water of Indus to be flown into Pakistan, to an ominous prediction surrounding an unlikely ‘Indo-Pak’ clash in the coming Cricket World Cup.
Pakistani singers and actors were shown their way out. Customs duties on products imported from Pakistan were upped to double the existing rates. India withdrew MFN status which it had given to Pakistan and it exerted mounting global pressure on Pakistan by successfully getting Pakistan back into the ‘grey list’ of FATF.
All these activities were tangible and got no undesirable repercussions for India. India wanted to strike back even harder this time to teach Pakistan a lesson which they don’t forget for generations. The most important thing was to strike exact and precise.
The valiant Indian Airforce in the early hours of 26th February went deeper inside Pakistani territory and dropped 1000 kg bombs on terrorist camps killing almost 200+ terrorists and returned safely.
While India celebrated the valour of its armed forces, devastated Pakistan vowed retaliation despite India stating, it had only targeting terrorist camps and not the Pakistani soldiers or any civilian establishments in its operation.
Two days later when Pakistani Airforce was targeting Indian Army base in J&K, IAF was on its toes and engaged Pakistan in close combat.
India shot down one F16 fighter jet of Pakistan and while targeting another fighter plane a Mig 21 fighter jet being flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman went inside PoK. His plane was shot down in retaliation fire by Pakistan. Wing Cdr. Abhinandan ejected himself but unfortunately fell 7 kilometres inside PoK.
He was stabbed and was being pelted with stones on his face till the Pakistan Army reached the spot and took him away from the angry mob.
Later, Pakistan released a video which showed captive pilot heaping praises on Pakistani soldiers, their hospitality and gestures of peace.
Amidst global pressure and an absolute warning from India that forewarned Pakistan stating if any wrong happened to its soldier, Pakistan will have to face dire consequences.
The rattled Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, soon after agreed to release the captive Pilot and reiterated that his actions must be seen as a gesture of peace and not a weakness of Pakistan. Pakistan took it as a diplomatic win for them.
Ever since Pulwama attack happened, Pakistan did expect a fierce Indian retaliation. Releasing captive Indian pilot was not a peace gesture but a compulsion to adhere by the guidelines of the Geneva Convention. Pakistan at a time when its economy is down in shambles, it cannot afford a war with India. It was a well-thought step taken by Pakistan.
Pakistan presumes it might have an upper hand in a situation where India shows any further aggression.