South Asia and Beyond

Balakot, One Year On: ‘India Drew New Red Lines, Called Pakistan’s Nuclear Bluff’

Amitabh P. Revi
February 26, 2020 - 8:10 am
1 minute read

NEW DELHI: February 26, 2019 — a red-letter day for India’s political will and military operations with the Balakot air strikes against Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists deep inside Pakistani territory. Air Marshal SBP Sinha, a fighter pilot who retired from service on December 31, 2018 as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Air Command, in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi, looks back at the lessons learnt, how Pakistan was completely deceived, India thwarting Islamabad’s retaliation and the subsequent dogfight in which Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman took the opportunity of shooting down an F-16 from his Mig-21. StratNews also has exclusive pictures that were sent back from inside the terror camp days before the strikes.

Amitabh P. Revi

Russian language speaker and conflict journalist. Amitabh Revi has been there, done that—from the battlefields of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to sublime Russia, Australia and the United States. Along the way he's picked up the Dag Hammarskjöld Distinguished Journalist Fellowship, the Ramnath Goenka award for coverage of the Iraq War and RT's Khaled Alkhateb Award for his reporting from Palmyra, Syria.