‘We Have Called Nuclear Bluff Of Pakistan'

Army Chief says Balakot air strike showed terror infrastructure & launch pads can be taken down — without nuclear escalation

- Sandeep Unnithan

The twin cross-border strikes — Uri in 2016 and Balakot in 2019 — had called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said on Friday.

Responding to a query on how far India had pushed the nuclear threshold after the Balakot airstrike, he indicated there was space for retaliatory options without any fear of nuclear weapons being used.

“If you see historically, nuclear weapons have been a good deterrent and that is where their role ends. We have seen on two or three occasions, we can still carry out the kind of operations that we have carried out without any nuclear portion coming into play,” he said speaking to media persons in South Block.