Army veterans have slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s illogical remark that clouds provided radar cover to Indian Air Force jets that performed airstrikes in Balakot.
On May 11, in an interview to News Nation when the journalist asked the PM about what happened on the night of the Balakot airstrike, Modi said, “It was raining that night very heavily… experts opined that we should change the day of the strike… I thought that there are clouds… there is rain… there is a benefit; it can provide us cover from radars. Then ultimately, I said, there are clouds, let’s go. ”
Major Priyadarshi Chowdhury who was part of the Sikh regiment and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) explained why the Prime Minister’s logic does not hold water when it comes to armed forces radars.
Also Read: Many Strikes Took Place Before Modi Govt: Military Veterans Slam Modi
He wrote, “Unlike Civil Aviation radars, the Armed Forces operate a suite of radars primarily based on the S-band (though the suite pretty much encompasses other bands too). This suite makes the [PM’s] claim redundant in modern warfare. There is no point in trying to defend the indefensible.”
https://twitter.com/MajChowdhury/status/1127852016707878912?s=19
He was reacting to BJP leader Jay Panda’s uninformed justification of the PM’s remark.
Retired Colonel Ashok Kumar Singh, the managing director of the Chamber of Commerce of Ex-Servicemen and the editor of Fauji Reporter, expressed his confusion as to why the PM is in charge of air operations instead of experts.
He added, “Does he (Modi) have any knowledge of Air War or Air Tactics and Air Technology? Its job of experts… @PMOIndia (Prime Minister of India) shall only give policy directions? What is wrong @IAF_MCC (Indian Air Force) with you?
Well i really don't understand…. Why shall PM control Air Operations? Does he have any knowledge of Air War or Air Tactics and Air Technology? Its job of experts… @PMOIndia shall only give policy directions? What is wrong @IAF_MCC with you?
— Ashok (@ashokkmrsingh) May 12, 2019
Brigadier MPS Bajwa (retired), who commanded the brigade that captured Tiger Hill during the Kargil and fought in the 1971 Bangladesh war, found it strange that the PM should interfere in military matters. He said, “He has no business to interfere in Air Operations.”
I agree Col Ashok .. its strange as to why PM should interfere in military matters? He has no business to interfere in Air Operations
— Brig MPS Bajwa (R) (@BrigMps) May 12, 2019
UN Peacekeeper and Major General SS Chohan (retired) reflected on why the experts in the room did not contradict or correct Modi at the time. He pointed out how Modi has gathered a circle of yes men around him.
https://twitter.com/Chohan1954/status/1127460626144436224
Major General SG Vombatkere, VSM, who retired as Additional DG Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ AG’s Branch, made a sarcastic remark as to how the IAF must have been unaware about radar and cloud cover until Modi educated them.
https://twitter.com/sgvombatkere/status/1127523121081139201
https://twitter.com/veteran10525/status/1127895481500045314
Bluff or bluster, he is numero ono!
Narendra Modi: Prime Minister’s cloud theory about Balakot aistrikes draws laughs https://t.co/c3Ob9HnoiN
— Lt Gen H S Panag(R) (@rwac48) May 12, 2019