No Lack of Coordination During Pathankot Operations, Says Army Chief

While Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said that the enemy must be made to feel the pain they inflict on us, the Army Chief refused to comment on the same.

General Dalbir pointed out that his force was not under anybody’s command, except the western army commander, attempting to quash media reports of a tussle for control of the operation between the country’s elite force the National Security Guard (NSG), the army and the air force.

The army chief said that the security environment facing the nation is becoming more “complex and dynamic” and said that at least 17 terror training camps continue to be active in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir compared to 42 earlier. “I think we should wait”, Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Greater Noida.

Indian Army Chief Dalbir Singh was speaking at the annual press conference in the capital.

On why the operation took so long to get completed, Singh said the “matter (is) best left to commanders on the ground who did a splendid job”.

Gen Singh also talked about the recent operation in Pathankot to neutralise militants who had entered the air base there.

Suhag said the siege of a building near the Indian consulate in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif was not connected to the Pathankot attack but added that only a thorough probe would give details.

He added that one of the important task at hand was to ensure safety of the assets, the over 10,000 people living at the base and the foreign trainees at the base.

As opposed to reports that the Army came in late, Gen Suhag said Army sections were sent both inside and outside the border inside of couple of hours of the insight caution after which nobody has broken the base.

An Indian army soldier holds an AK-47 assault rifle during a fight in the town of Dinanagar, in the northern state of Punjab, India, Monday, July 27, 2015. It was a good operation.

The Army chief said his directions on Pathankot operation was to secure all facilities and personnel, ensure no one escapes and to avoid casualties. “It is of concern and will one of key lessons learnt”. Suhag said that security audit of all military bases have been ordered.