Balakot showed air power role in ‘no war, no peace’ scenario: IAF Chief

New Delhi: Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari has stressed that the Balakot operations of 2019 demonstrated its effectiveness even in a 'no war, no peace' scenario and under a "nuclear overhang".

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari was speaking at the inauguration of the Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Memorial seminar with the theme 'Aerospace Power: Pivot to Future Battle Space Operations' organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS). The seminar will be an annual event, the Director General of CAPS Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd) said.

He said, "Operations like Balakot have also demonstrated that given the political will, aerospace power can be effectively used in a no war, no peace scenario, under a nuclear overhang without escalating into a full blown conflict."

"This is very important given the nature of our adversaries. The response options available to the leadership have suddenly increased and increasingly, air power has become an option of choice due to inherent flexibility and unmatched precision strike capability," IAF Chief added.

IAF Chief said the mantra for future wars would need capability of 'seeing first' followed by ability to 'strike first' and then 'striking the farthest'.

"To see first and see clearly, to reach first and reach the farthest and to strike first and strike with precision will be the mantra for fighting modern wars," he said.

"Attributes of aerospace power enable the leadership to formulate an appropriate strategy with due cognizance given to the desired end state, conflict termination criteria and escalation matrix," he said.

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