NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — Indian Air Force Chief Birender Singh Dhanoa has said that the Indian Air Force is capable of hitting nuclear sites across the border in Pakistan if the country decides to carry out another ‘surgical strike.'
"The Air Force has the ability to locate, fix and strike targets across the border," Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said today during a press conference on the occasion of 85th Air Force Day.
The Air Force Chief also assured that adequate measures have been taken to avert attacks on the country's air bases following the 2016 Pathankot terror attack.
"The Indian Air Force has taken a number of steps to secure our airbases after the Pathankot terror attack. We are working on an Integrated Perimeter Security System. What is more important is that we have trained our own forces. After the Pathankot terror attack, we trained 6,000 air force personnel so that they can handle such situations. We bought light bulletproof helmets, vests etc," the IAF Chief added.
In the midst of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the possibility of India launching a "limited war," India has revived its decades-old combat division comprising tanks and armored vehicles near the historically significant Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
Also, the Indian Army has once again warned Pakistan that it should stop helping terrorists across the Line of Control (de facto border). "The surgical strikes were a message we wanted to communicate. I think they have understood. If the adversary does not behave, and it is necessary, we can conduct such operations again. We can repeat them, if not in the same form and shape," said Gen Bipin Rawat.
Pakistan, on the other hand, continued to accuse India of unprovoked firing. Pakistani newspaper ‘The Nation' reported on Monday that Islamabad had contacted Washington, Beijing, Moscow and London to raise the issue of unprovoked firing at the border by India. "We have urged them to ask India to give up defiance. India is threatening a limited war which could be dangerous for the regional peace," said a Pakistani official.
