Balakot: How India planned IAF airstrike in Pakistan | An inside story
Hours before the Balakot strike deep in the heart of Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave no indication to those who met him that he had taken such a momentous decision. One that would push the two countries closest to a war since the stand-off in 2002 after the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked Kaluchak in J&K and killed 30 people.
It would be the first time that India was conducting an air strike in mainland Pakistan since 1971. It was a decision as far-reaching as overtly declaring India's nuclear capability, like Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee did with the nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998. It signalled a paradigm shift in the way India would deal with Pakistan in future when it came to terror attacks.
Modi, though, appeared as collected as ever when he returned to his official residence足7, Lok Kalyan Margat 9.30 pm after a speaking engagement. The tense relations between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama attack on February 14 that saw 40 security personnel killed in a suicide bomb attack by the JeM had barely found a mention in his address.
But his staff found it strange that the prime minister did not go to bed at midnight as usual. Instead, he kept working on files in his study and sending emails while monitoring the progress of the Balakot air strikes.
Around 3 am, the prime minister was informed that a fleet of Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets had taken off and was shortly expected to cross into Pakistani territory. Half an hour later, he was told the jets had hit their target in Pakistan and flown safely back to their respective bases.
He kept getting subsequent upda足tes on the damage the jets had caused. He himself was surfing social media to see if there was any reaction to the mission, particularly from Pakistan. It was only when Modi called for an urgent meeting at 9.40 am to brief his Cabinet Committee on Security, which includes the finance, external affairs, home and defence ministers, that his team realised what had kept him awake all night.
In the following days, with Pakistan launching a counter strike, a thick fog of controversy surrounded the
