Agencies
Srinagar
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah Tuesday said that one cannot possibly speculate on what will happen next following the Indian Air Force (IAF) strike across the Line of Control (LoC) as there was no information about the damage caused.
“Unless we know which Balakote is being talked about by the Pakistani generals it’s pointless speculating about what we may have hit and what fallout the airstrike will have,” Abdullah tweeted.
He was reacting after Pakistan claimed that IAF jets crossed the LoC, and dropped a payload in haste before returning as the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) scrambled its war planes.
“If this is Balakote in KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) it’s a major incursion and a significant strike by IAF planes.
However, if it’s Balakote in Poonch sector, along the LoC it’s a largely symbolic strike because at this time of the year forward launch pads and militant camps are empty and non-functional,” Omar wrote.
The former chief minister also spoke of a possible fallout over the air strikes.
“The problem now becomes Prime Minister Imran Khan’s commitment to his country — ‘Pakistan will not think about responding, Pakistan will respond’.
“What shape will response take? Where will response be? Will India have to respond to Pakistan’s response?,” Omar Abdullah asked, voicing his concern about what happens next.
Abdullah’s tweets came as the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) was meeting at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.
While Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has also called an ” emergency meeting after the air strikes across the LoC.
Pakistan army claimed that Indian fighter jets were forced to retreat after they crossed the LoC in Muzaffarabad sector.
“Indian Air Force violated Line of Control, following which Pakistan Air Force immediately scrambled and Indian aircraft went back,” Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, said in a tweet.
In another tweet, Ghafoor said that the aircraft faced “timely and effective response from Pakistan Air Force” and ended up releasing “payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot”.
No casualties or damage occurred, the military spokesman said.
Tensions hightened between India and Pakistan since the suicide attack on CRPF in Pulwama on February 14 that killed 40 troops were killed.
