332: Remembering Balakot

pic courtesy: myvoice.opindia.com

Due to some some vague reason, last night I got up at 3 AM and remembered this day four years back. Memories of Feb 2019  are still very vivid in the mind as if the events are unfolding just now. 

 

I might forget my own name in old age due to dementia, but I don’t think the memories of the days from 14 Feb (Pulwama terrorist attack) to 26 Feb 2019 (Balakot Strike) will ever get erased.

 

On morning of 26 Feb 2019, the media came alive and the word “Balakot” became the talk of the world. Balakot is a small place in Manshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The place is about 231 kilometers away from the Line of Control (LoC) with India.

 

Balakot made international headlines, due to the early morning airstrikes by the Indian Air Force which destroyed the terrorists camp located there.

 

Remembering Balakot  Strike

 

  1. Link to interview with Jugal Purohit on BBC Feb 2020.

https://55nda.com/blogs/anil-khosla/2020/09/14/balakot-inter-view-with-bbc-jugal-purohit/

 

2. Link to discussion on India TV (Hindi) on 30 Oct 2020.

राज को राज रहने दो

https://55nda.com/blogs/anil-khosla/2020/10/30/%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%9c-%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%8b-%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%9c-%e0%a4%b9%e0%a5%80-%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%b9%e0%a4%a8%e0%a5%87-%e0%a4%a6%e0%a5%8b/

 

3. Link to discussion on Sansad TV (English) on 26 Feb 22.

Balakot Revisited

https://55nda.com/blogs/anil-khosla/2022/02/27/balakot-revisited-26-feb-22/

 

4. Link to discussion on Sansad TV (Hindi) on 26 Feb 22.

आपका मुद्दा बालाकोट स्ट्राइक

https://55nda.com/blogs/anil-khosla/2022/02/28/%e0%a4%86%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%95%e0%a4%be-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a5%81%e0%a4%a6%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%a6%e0%a4%be-%e0%a4%ac%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%b2%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%8b%e0%a4%9f-%e0%a4%b8%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%9f%e0%a5%8d/

 

In the News Today

 

Links to some of the news reports today (With credits and thanks to these news channels and reports.):- 

 

  1. https://www.wionews.com/india-news/balakot-airstrikes-how-india-air-force-carried-out-a-successful-retaliation-four-years-back-565895

 

2.https://bharat.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/indian-air-force-jets-wreaked-havoc-on-terrorists-know-todays-history

 

3.https://www.ibc24.in/country/balakot-air-strike-4-years-ago-india-attacked-terrorists-of-pakistan-1426190.html

 

4.https://marathi.abplive.com/news/india/balakot-airstrike-fourth-anniversary-jammu-kashmir-pulwama-attack-surgical-strike-indian-army-indian-air-force-1155012

 

5.https://www.freepressjournal.in/viral/balakot-air-strike-jai-hind-trends-on-twitter-as-netizens-mark-the-4th-anniversary-of-indias-response-to-the-pulwama-terror-attack

 

6.https://www.jagran.com/news/national-balakot-air-strike-day-script-of-iaf-strike-written-after-pulwama-attack-pak-vs-indian-army-surgical-strike-jagran-special-23341236.html

 

7.https://odishatv.in/news/trending/4-years-of-balakot-air-strike-netizens-remember-how-india-avenged-pulwama-terror-attack-197927

 

Did Balakot strike have the desired effect?

My answer is Yes

 

 

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References and credits

To all the online sites and channels.

 

Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from sources deemed reliable and accurate. All copyrighted material belongs to respective owners and is provided only for purposes of wider dissemination.

 

300: BLUESKIES PODCAST: CHAT WITH GANA

Had an interesting Chat with Gana (PR Ganapathy) on anything and everything about IAF, and thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him.

 

From Blueskies podcast post on Youtube:-

In this episode, we speak to Air Mshl Anil Khosla, who recently retired as Vice Chief of Air Staff. Besides his experiences as a young officer, we focus on the role he played in the Doklam stand-off (when he was C-in-C Eastern Air Command) and the strike at Balakot (when he was Vice Chief). We also discuss the pros and cons of indigenous vs imported weapons platforms, the future of air war, and the Air Force’s talent strategy, among other things.

 

For selective listening:-

00:00:00 – 00:01:00 Introduction

00:01:00 – 00:13:14 Initial journey into IAF

00:13:14 – 00:16:01 Doklam incident

00:16:01 – 00:19:09 How to deal with China

00:19:09 – 00:28:46 Balakot

00:28:46 – 00:43:46 Maintain a tech edge

00:43:46 – 00:53:30 Future of air war

00:53:30 – 01:00:00 Finding talent for the IAF

 

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References and credits

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Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from sources deemed reliable and accurate. All copyrighted material belongs to respective owners and is provided only for purposes of wider dissemination.

 

295: Celebrating Two years of Blogging with 300 posts

 

 

Topics Covered

 

Leadership, Motivation and Management
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Earning respect
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importance of Tolerance
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Leadership lessons from Hollywood movies.
Shark in the tank theory of management
Car wheel theory of management
Aya Ram Gaya Ram syndrome – yes men.
Calculated Risks
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China

China’s Brain differently wired
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China – Art of deception
China: Kill Pigs List
China: Social score System
China: Active Defence Policy
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China – Joint Strategic Support Force.
Dealing with the Dragon
China’s grey zone operations
China: Flavours of military Reform
China: Pillars of Military Reform
China new diplomacy – drawing red lines in sand.
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China through US Prism
China in South China Sea
China’s Military – Civil Fusion
PLAAF Analysis Strengths and weaknesses
Book review on China Airpower
Dealing with Dragon
Knowing China Better: lie flat and let it rot
Knowing China Better social life and customs
 

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China
Pakistan – National security Policy, Turmoil
Afghanistan
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Quad
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Afghanistan: Taliban runover
US-China shadow boxing over Taiwan
China spoiling Bhutan’s GNH.
South China sea
Gini Index and implications.
Multilateralism: Flexible Security Cooperation.
China Pak Collusivity
Collective Security
Sri Lanka Economic crisis: lessons and opportunity
Ukraine Conflict
Djibouti: Tug of war between USA and China
 

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Airpower in Grey zone operations
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Drone Threat the big picture
Fighter aircraft classifications by generations
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Cyber warfare
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Capability development
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IAF Modernisation
Balakot Operations
Rafale induction and capability enhancement
S-400 Induction
Fire Power Demo: Ex Vayu Shakti
 

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Future Wars
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Ukraine War: Air Power aspects, a case of dog and the bone, Air superiority aspects, decoding Ukraine war
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Review of book on 1962 war
Review of book on 1965 war
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Jasjit Singh on Airpower
Galwan stand off
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Nuclear aspects revisited
Accelerating the paradigm Shift
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Multilateralism: Relevance and changes
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Collusive threat and Deterrence: Air and Space Aspects
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My tryst with HT-2 aircraft: The day god flew with me
The day I flew my dad’s car
Male Lake: Tale of two coursemates
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References and credits

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Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from sources deemed reliable and accurate. All copyrighted material belongs to respective owners and is provided only for purposes of wider dissemination.

 

 

 

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