Strategic dimensions of ‘Operation Swift Retort’
The brief and intense military operation conducted by the brave officers of Pakistan Air Forces (PAF) in the broad day hours of February 27, 2019 where two Indian aircrafts were shoot-down was code-named as, “Operation Swift Retort”. This operation was response to Indian violation of Pakistani air space in the dark hours of February 26, 2019.
Operation Swift Retort puts Pakistan at a strategic advantage while simultaneously put India at a strategic disadvantage. While revisiting the history of Pakistan-India relations, India has been making constant endeavors to prove its political and strategic ascendancy in South Asia as part of its long-term strategic planning of becoming regional hegemon.Whereas India was able to pacify all South Asian states, Pakistan always refused to accept Indian regional dominance.
Pakistan always rejected strategic and political maneuvering of India by giving a befitting response to any of its misadventures and misleading Indian media campaigns. In order to prove its strategic ascendancy over Pakistan, in 2016, India projected to international media that, it had carried out surgical strikes inside into the areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, across the ceasefire line, commonly known as Line of Control (LoC).
Pakistan exposed the Indian falsehood by inviting the representatives of local and international media to witness any signs of surgical strikes. Indeed, nothing was found to prove that, Indian claim was correct. Upon exposure of this lie, India had to cut a sorry figure in front of international community. Nevertheless, it continued reinforcing its lie by making similar claims and gains which could prove its hegemonic designs.
On February 14, 2019, India stage-managed an attack on an Indian military convey in Pulwama area of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The attack killed over forty soldiers of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Immediately after this attack, Indian projected Pakistan as the state behind this attack where neither Pakistan nor Kashmiris were beneficiaries of this attack. The immediate fallouts of the Pulwama attack put Pakistan into an embarrassing situation on two accounts; a) it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the high profile visit of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS). This visit intended to bring a new dimension in the Pak-Saudi relationship at political, strategic and economic level and b) Pakistan was labeled the real force behind. Indeed, through this stage-managed act, India put Pakistan into a political disadvantage for initially few days of the attack.
At the political and diplomatic level, Pakistan condemned the attack with a clear rejection of Indian allegations about its involvement in the attack. Pakistan even offered its cooperation in the investigation process. On its part, India launched a massive media campaign to implicate Pakistan and Pakistani based organizations in the Pulwama attack and created war hysteria among the Indian masses. This all ended at the Indian Air Force physical incursion into the Pakistani aerial space up to Balakot with false claims of killing over 300 militants at a militant training camp there. This all was done despite a clear warning from Pakistan that, any violation of Pakistani territory will be retaliated. Indian aerial incursion at Balakot in the dark hours of 26 February 2019 put Pakistan at an odd position, warranting a befitting response.
The very next day, 27 February 2019, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) retaliated the Indian attack through “Operation Swift Retort” in Nowshara sector of IIOJK shooing two Indian aircrafts in broad day light; one falling into AJK area and another in IIOJK. From the planning to its conduct phase, India wanted to achieve a political and strategic mileage from the Pulwama attack. Politically, India wanted to tell the world that, whatever is happening in IIOJK is backed by Pakistan and Pakistani backed militants’ organizations, warranting punitive actions like sanctions and declaring Pakistan as a state sponsoring terrorism.
Strategically, India wanted to prove its military ascendancy over Pakistan and in the broader region, surrounding South Asia. Had Pakistan not responded IAF incursion, it would have stamped the Indian dominance in the region and so-called claims of the surgical strike in 2016. The Pakistan retaliation and shooting of Indian aircrafts put India into a humiliating position, with a strategic disadvantage. Had India opted for retaliation to this PAF attack, there could have been very strong reaction from already charged Pakistani armed forces. Therefore, in order to cover its humiliation, Indian Prime Minister asked for better equipment and new aircrafts like Rafale twin engine aircrafts which India purchased from France in 2021.
Today after four years of the “Operation Swift Retort” Indian soldiers and Indian masses must ask Modi and Military high command as why Indian Government stage-managed an event to kill its own soldiers and thereafter paved way to massively brutalize the Kashmiris of IIOJK in the garb of this attack. This stage-managed Pulwama attack was primarily planned for attaining three key objectives; re-election of BJP into the power through scheduled elections of May 2019, b) projecting Kashmiris and Indian Muslims as militant for their future penalization through undoing the special status of IIOJK and Citizenship Amendment Act-2019, and c) projecting Pakistan as the state behind militancy, thus demanding international community to put sanctions against it.
Pakistan however believes that, it is not the gun but man behind the gun, which really matters. This Indian confession and submission lowered its status in the regional politics of South Asia with a global embarrassment to its false claims, it earlier made like; Indian Parliament Attack-2001, Mumbai attack-2011, Pathankot attack and Uri Attack-2016. Indeed, the Pulwama attack and the post Pulwama Indian military misadventure put India in to a strategic disadvantage with lot of domestic and international repercussions. Indeed, Indian accessions, it labeled against Pakistan were exposed, which strategically placed Pakistan at a dominating position in South Asia. The Indian efforts to become a regional hegemonic power with the status of major power position at the global level have also met with disappointments. Strategically the Operation Swift Retort has put India in aunfavorable position while concurrentlyinspirationalfor the professionalism of Pakistan Military.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
