The Indian Air Force decimated the Pakistani terror infrastructure in precision strikes carried out under Operation Sindoor on May 7. The Pakistani terror network suffered heavy damage in the Indian strikes, but that was just a trailer, said former Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.
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00:00On India today, we get you the bomb damage assessment and this is pure military science and it is my privilege with me on this special broadcast is Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadoria, former Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Bhadoria, welcome sir.
00:17We are looking at the bomb damage assessment, what was hit in Pakistan, we are not talking about the terrorist training camps, launch pads and centres right now, we are talking about the military targets.
00:33For example, the Pasroor Air Defence Radar that's been hit, you saw the images before and you're seeing the images after, we were told that that is the radar head that's been decapitated, sir.
00:45Sir, this is the Chunyan radar, Arifwala Air Defence System and we'll go one by one on all these targets so that you can understand and the importance of what the Indian Air Force did or the Indian Armed Forces did.
01:01Sir, the bigger picture, you heard what Director General Air Operations and Military Operations said, according to you, what is the big picture that emerges?
01:09Sir, the big picture is very clear. Firstly, a very clear assessment of what was done after hitting the terrorist strike and why it was done.
01:19Our objective was very clearly, Operation Sindhuur was to target terrorist sites and infrastructure.
01:25That was the first nine targets on the first day.
01:28It was in response to Pakistan military's incursion in the form of drones, UCAVs, missiles, etc.
01:36That our response started on military targets, made very amply clear and that too, the kind of restraint shown by our military, by our army, by our air force in choice of targets and the extent of target selection was very clear.
01:51Otherwise, it could have been many more.
01:53Okay.
01:53So, the first night, there was a measured response, some AD targets taken, some radars, some SAM sites.
01:59Sir, let's take this step by step and target by target.
02:03Yeah.
02:04Chunyan Air Defence Radar. Why is Chunyan so important, sir?
02:07It's playing out on air route. Okay, we've just jumped to Sukur.
02:10Let's stay with our target for a moment, please. Let's start with Sukur.
02:14Okay. I must tell you that whatever images that you see are released will only be some images.
02:21Yes.
02:21Okay, it will not be total.
02:23So, what I say would be relevant with respect to what I see.
02:27The actual damage and the actual assessment will be far beyond.
02:30Okay. This one is…
02:33This is Chunyan right now.
02:35We're just trying to get you these images one by one that will stay on the screen so that even our viewers can benefit from this,
02:42so that our viewers can also assess the damage.
02:45So, this is the Chunyan Air Defence Radar.
02:48See, the Air Defence Radar targeting the kind of damage shown and the kind of damage inflicted,
02:56that radar is non-ops.
02:58So, if we had gone into a conventional conflict over a period of at least 10 to 15 days,
03:02there was no way that could have been brought up.
03:04That is the kind of impact it would have had in case we had gone into a full-fledged conflict.
03:10Also, should there have been a need for incursion from our side and also in their entire Air Defence picture
03:18that they have integrated a system in the manner that they have, this would have created a big hole.
03:24So, that is the impact of targeting this kind of target and achieving success.
03:30Okay, let's now go to Sargoda because, you know, some of the analysts I've been speaking to and you can tell me better,
03:37they thought targeting Sargoda is mission impossible.
03:41I believe all of you war-gamed all your military careers,
03:44but this is the first time ever, you know, in war on terror.
03:48It's been targeted in the 71 war, but in the target acquired, sir, when you look at this image, what emerges?
03:56See, Sargoda is a target complex.
03:59Sargoda is a huge, you know, base.
04:03It houses many, many important critical assets,
04:07be it in the kind of weapons stored, kind of aircraft, kind of capability.
04:11So, overall, Sargoda is hugely important.
04:16And our targeting of Sargoda, keeping that as a target, is a very strong message.
04:23And that too, only some targets at Sargoda have been taken.
04:26But if some can be taken, there could be multiples.
04:30So, Sargoda, for the benefit of our viewers, is one of Pakistan's biggest military complexes, biggest air bases.
04:37From Pakistan Air Force perspective, yes.
04:39From Pakistan Air Force perspective.
04:40Very well defended, very strongly in terms of layers, in terms of, especially because of the assets there.
04:47And our, you know, effort at targeting that, precise targeting, you can see the damage inflicted.
04:54And for sure.
04:55Explain the damage, sir.
04:56Explain the damage for our viewers at Sargoda.
04:59We stay at Sargoda for a moment.
05:00Please explain the damage at Sargoda, sir.
05:02We need to get closer.
05:03Okay.
05:04So, Sargoda is the runway that's been targeted and there's some damage repair that is going on at Sargoda.
05:09Sargoda, but for the benefit of our viewers, sir, that it has their F-16s.
05:14Yeah.
05:14No, it has all critical assets.
05:16So, the target, the destruction that you see on the runway, that portion, this kind of destruction, they would minimum take a day or so to recover.
05:25So, it disrupts the operation.
05:28So, if there was a need for them to launch their aircraft early, if you put two, three of these holes on the runway, big holes, then the runway is non-offs for that time.
05:39So, targeting runway is to disrupt their operations significantly.
05:44Were these strikes only demonstrative that we can do this should we choose to?
05:51There is some destruction, but it is not devastating him as of now.
05:56It's only symbolic?
05:57Is that what you've done?
05:58No.
05:59Is that what the Air Force has done?
06:00Yes, it's a combination.
06:01It is symbolic in terms of messaging.
06:04It is significant damage in terms of preparing.
06:07Should it continue to escalate, it is not that these damages should go waste.
06:12So, it's not only runway.
06:13There are command control centers.
06:15There are angers targeted.
06:17So, there are assets targeted.
06:18There are shelters targeted.
06:19So, the effort is to disrupt their operational capability from the airfield.
06:25Also, to attack their assets.
06:28So, whatever was in that shelter, let me assure you, that would be non-offs.
06:32That would be damaged.
06:33Whether it's his fighter jets, because Sargoda was also, his, are you sending him a message that even if you think that you will launch a nuclear attack, I can take you down before you even think of it?
06:44Absolutely.
06:44That is one of the things.
06:45Some of their assets capable of taking off that vertical vector in the air are based there.
06:52So, Sargoda is hugely, hugely important.
06:54And this is much beyond a message.
06:56It is also inflicting some damage so that it is kind of shaping the battlefield should things continue to escalate.
07:04Not only Sargoda.
07:05You should see all airfields that have been attacked.
07:07We are going to every airfield.
07:08And that is why I requested you to join us on this special broadcast.
07:11Because on India Today, we know you are very interested in knowing what our armed forces have done.
07:18What has happened is truly, as many defense analysts argue, unprecedented.
07:26Unprecedented.
07:27Punishing terror, both at Mureetke and Bahawalpur.
07:31It was war game.
07:32And I just want to understand from you.
07:34From the time that you were a young flight lieutenant or a squadron leader, till the time you became air chief, how many times would you have war gamed targeting some of these terror bases?
07:47See, terror bases as anti-terror operations, these were critical targets which were on the horizon always.
07:52Because they were the basic core centers of their housing.
07:58Also, these air bases that you have spoken about, they are the primary bases which always were kept very close track of.
08:06And formed a major portion of our discussion stroke of our planning.
08:11So, what you see today is something that every air force officer would have heard or would have discussed or would have, would be master at.
08:19That I can, no, but when you talk to the Pakistanis, like you also told me, Sargoda is their best defended, amongst their best defended airfields.
08:29It has apparently four to five layers of air defense system.
08:33So, what penetrated through this?
08:35What penetrated five layers of his, or four layers of his air defense?
08:38So, we have, we have today weapons that are capable of hugely, a huge standoff.
08:43And also capable of penetrating such defenses.
08:46And don't forget the previous night we made some holes in their AD network.
08:50Yes.
08:50So, that would have created some, some kind of gaps in their overall ability to monitor their, their air defense.
08:58So, it's a combination.
08:59And, and important thing to understand is within one night of targeting some limited AD assets,
09:05we went ahead and targeted so many bases in this manner.
09:10It's just a trailer, what we can do actually, what we can do actually.
09:14Our actual thing would have been a multiple.
09:15One thing you should mention, you mentioned that, yeh abhi interval hai, picture abhi baaki hai.
09:21That is the message that India has sent out to Pakistan with these 11 strikes that have taken place at the military locations and nine targets that were taken out earlier.
09:32And those were nine terror targets.
09:34Let's now move from Sargoda to Chaklala.
09:38Chaklala is perhaps amongst the oldest and the most important air bases right next to Pindi, the seat of power in Pakistan.
09:47You know, in any, any democracy where the prime minister sits is the seat of power.
09:52Islamabad, it should be in Pakistan, but it is GHQ Rawalpindi.
09:55And that is why Chaklala becomes very important.
09:58Noor Khan Air Base.
10:00Sir, we are looking at images also and we will play out the first image that came of Noor Khan was this huge ball of smoke that went up and there was a ball of fire.
10:10What would have led to that ball of fire at Noor Khan Air Base?
10:13No, that is straight forward that the kind of impact that has taken place.
10:18Either that, that size of ball normally happens when the target itself goes up in flames.
10:24It is a combination of not only the weapon, but the target.
10:27So, it is a clear sign of a strong damage.
10:30Also, as I can see on this, it is clearly a hangar.
10:33And assets in the hangar or shelters have been targeted.
10:37With this kind of damage, whatever was inside would be destroyed.
10:41So, if we were to make an intelligent assessment, they have the media refuelers there?
10:48Yes.
10:48They have the C1.
10:49Chaklala is very important from that perspective.
10:51They have combat support assets which are critical.
10:54They have combat support assets which are very critical.
10:57So, if we come to specifics of combat support assets, it's his media refueler.
11:03I think it's an IL-78 platform.
11:06This is media refueler.
11:07They have a version.
11:08They have a version.
11:09Yeah.
11:09And they have another Chinese version.
11:12And they have a Chinese version of the IL-78.
11:15That's a heavy lift.
11:16Illusion 78 is a heavy lift transport aircraft of Russian origin.
11:20They have a Chinese version.
11:21We have the IL-78.
11:23We have the IL-78.
11:23More importantly, they have some of their AEWCs that normally land there.
11:29So, it's a combination.
11:31They would have rotated, of course.
11:33But if Air Force has gone in, they have the capability to house these assets.
11:37And there would be some critical assets.
11:40Can't be sure of refueler.
11:41A more important target than that would be AEWC, for example.
11:46AEWC.
11:47Advanced, Early Warning and Command and Control.
11:49The Saab area.
11:49The Saab area.
11:51Right.
11:52That's the Saab 2000 is what they have, sir.
11:54Yeah.
11:54And they have their C-130 fleet there.
11:56And the C-130.
11:57But as a military target, AEWC would be critical.
12:02You know what that means, actually?
12:04Pakistan Air Force would be blind in the sky.
12:07Because they have no Advanced, Early Warning and Command and Control structure, sir?
12:11Yeah.
12:11I mean, that's a big kill.
12:13I mean, that's a huge kill.
12:14If that gets damaged, it's a huge achievement.
12:16And there are signs that some such asset has been damaged, either in the air or on ground.
12:23So, let the damage assessment come out from the Air Force in due course.
12:28Some of it has.
12:29Some of it has.
12:30But you're absolutely right.
12:31I'm just going by the targets.
12:35Look at the damage that's been done to the most important airfield, amongst the most important airfields in Pakistan.
12:41Because when every VVIP in Pakistan, I mean, next time when Aasem Muneer takes a flight from this Noor Khan Air Base,
12:50he'll be scared.
12:50He'll be scared that some Indian missile can take him down.
12:54Yeah.
12:54He'll be looking upwards.
12:55And his entire Air Force and Army would be looking upwards and towards us, towards the border.
13:00That's the significance.
13:01For some time to come.
13:02That's the significance.
13:04And this fear is the message that must go out to a state sponsor of radical Islamist terror.
13:11So, we've talked about Chaklala.
13:12Chaklala has also a lot more, sir.
13:14Their command and control system to a large extent.
13:17Of course, yes.
13:18So, see, all these strikes would have targeted either their command and control centers, which are very important.
13:24Their assets for which hangers, shelters, etc.
13:26Their places where they store their weapons.
13:30Fuel not as much at this state of the war, unless they've gone in.
13:33I'm not too sure.
13:34But weapons storage, critical weapons storage for sure.
13:37Their combat support assets.
13:38I'm coming to combat support assets.
13:40So, this would be, and clearly the choice of target.
13:44Very important is to understand they were on full alert.
13:47We had only taken out a part of their air defense.
13:50The rest was still kind of functional.
13:52And we still went and did this mission because when they did not listen and enhance their drone attacks and U-cavs
13:59and a significant increase in air-to-surface weapons and stand-off weapons, this was the repercussion for that.
14:06From Chaklala Airfield or Chaklala Airbase, Noor Khan, let's shift to Jacob Abad.
14:12And Jacob Abad has tremendous significance.
14:15We'll also show you Jacob Abad on the map so that you understand that when you come down in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,
14:22you know, from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which include the northern areas, Skardu Airbase,
14:28you've taken down the airfield at Skardu.
14:31That's actually a message that you're also sending out to the Chinese, then you've…
14:35Yeah, it is under their nose.
14:37It's under their nose.
14:38So, I'll talk about Skardu in just a moment.
14:40But for the moment, we want to talk about Jacob Abad.
14:43Isn't this amongst their most critical when it comes to some of their strategic assets, including the American F-16s?
14:50Yeah, it is critical, some of the assets, but let me tell you, the criticality is also because of its location and some of these assets can move very fast.
14:59But the location and the kind of target taken, for sure there were critical assets inside.
15:05So, this kind of hit on this shelter, whatever is inside is destroyed.
15:11Okay.
15:12There is no way it can survive.
15:13But tell me this, sir.
15:14We've seen some holes have been punched in the airfield.
15:19Some hangers have been destroyed.
15:21Is this just demonstrative that we can do this, we can do this again?
15:25Should the Air Force, I mean, whether the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was used or not, I do not know.
15:30But that is what, we've seen a booster and a nose cap.
15:33So, we can only assume that even a BrahMos was used.
15:36My question is, should it have been a more punitive strike?
15:40That he cannot repair the runway in 24 hours or 48 hours.
15:43He should not be able to repair the hangers, destroy his assets.
15:47It would have been in case we were planning for a full-fledged conflict.
15:51So, there was a lot of restraint shown.
15:55And in spite of choosing so many targets, only some critical assets were chosen.
16:01Like I said earlier on the same point, if we were going on for a normal conflict and it was a counter-air operation,
16:09it would have been in multiple times of this.
16:11It would have been at least 5, 6x of this in terms of in one wave.
16:16In one wave?
16:17In one wave.
16:17And we would have done three waves at night.
16:19In one night we would have done three, four waves.
16:21Yes. So, this is just a very, very restrained kind of action taken and a very controlled measure
16:29so that things don't escalate and they have enough warning to step back.
16:34It was a message and it was, along with the message, some critical damage which helps us as we go along.
16:41From Jacobabad, I now want to move and we have the entire list.
16:46So, the Shukur Air Base or Sakar as, you know, the Pakistanis say.
16:52The damage here, sir, before and after to the airfield and I believe beyond some other assets have also been taken down.
17:01Yeah, yeah. So, if you go as per briefing, see the damage on the airfield is very clear.
17:06Right in the heart of the runway.
17:08At the heart and at a critical point which is normally the aim.
17:12So, this airfield will be disabled and there is another target taken there.
17:17I don't see the picture if I remember the briefing right.
17:20So, again, important, again point to consider and for the people to know
17:25that every single target that was attempted has been achieved.
17:30So, see the success rate against an adversary who was fully prepared and expecting.
17:37And this is just an indication of what would have happened if they had not stepped back.
17:42Okay. From Shukur then, Sakar, let's move forward to Bulari.
17:48Their latest airfield, their newest airfield.
17:51Because I also wanted to show this on the map and we will do that in a moment.
17:55We have a map where we will show all the airfields that have been taken down
17:59from Park Occupy, Jammu and Kashmir, you know, Skardu to Bulari.
18:04In the Sindh, does this now come down to Sindh province?
18:08Yeah.
18:08That's the aircraft hangar.
18:10Yeah.
18:12Yeah, that's it.
18:13So, again, whatever is inside this hangar and some of the open places here,
18:19there are a lot of open places on this airfield.
18:23There would have been certainly assets in this shelter and hangar combination.
18:27When we talk about assets…
18:28And this would be complete loss for them.
18:32So, it's a write-off.
18:33Absolute write-off.
18:34Whether it's a JF-17 or an F-16…
18:37Yes, whatever it is.
18:37…because most of his F-16s, we were told, or at least there were some reports,
18:41unless they were misleading, Pakistani media had indicated that they had moved some of their F-16s to the Pasni airbase.
18:47So, they had moved. That would have been monitored. And this is on the third night. So, they would have seen what has been deployed.
18:57When you put a target like this specifically, this hangar or shelter and not the adjacent one, not another one across the runway,
19:06that's because this is where the assets were.
19:10Sir, look at the airbases across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir that have been taken down.
19:19The significance, the one at Skardu opposite Kargil in Pakistan-occupied Jammu-Kashmir, what they may want to call their northern areas.
19:27Why is punching a hole in the Skardu airfield so important?
19:33Again, it is firstly a message.
19:36Secondly, Skardu, that area, Skardu is a very important airfield.
19:42Over the last couple of years, there have been serious developments there, serious improvements.
19:47Infrastructure development. Infrastructure and also assets have been moved.
19:52And you just see where it is located.
19:53So, if conflict had continued to escalate, it is very critical to keep that under control for forces in Srinagar and entire JNK.
20:04So, Skardu strategically…
20:05Because even during Op Vijay, and you were part there, even during Op Vijay, the Pakistanis had operated out of Skardu.
20:11And when they had targeted, if I remember, it was from here that they targeted Natchiketa, Skard leader Natchiketa.
20:18Yeah. This is a critical base in that area.
20:22And of late, a lot of improvement in this base.
20:26A lot of shelters being made, critical assets operated, all their excises…
20:30Critical assets here would mean UCAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned…
20:34Not only unmanned, even F-16s have come there, all their aircraft, in any excise, in any operational deployment, you would have the best of their assets here.
20:44So, disabling Skardu is important.
20:47Okay. So, Skardu, we've already talked about Noor Khan, we've talked about Sargoda, we've talked about Mureed, the radar installation is taken down.
20:56The Sialkot aviation base, is that too tactical for me to ask a former air chief, why is Sialkot aviation base very important?
21:03Is that their UCAVs and helicopter assets, or do they have more than that?
21:07And a radar, I believe, at Sialkot.
21:09Sialkot would be more from a radar perspective.
21:12Those training areas are not of real importance at this stage at all.
21:17So, it would be assets in terms of command and control, and in terms of combat assets, is what is relevant, and of course, the runway.
21:26So, it is always something that is relevant to the war potential.
21:32Pasroor is an early warning system, and Pasroor being taken down has twin advantages.
21:38Are aircraft going in? Would that be the reason?
21:41Because I believe the army was also involved in taking down the Pasroor early warning system.
21:46Pasroor is critical, location-wise, capability-wise, and its own contribution to their air defense network, and overall their capability.
21:54So, Pasroor was significant.
21:57How soon can Pakistan overcome the damages inflicted by India?
22:02The pictures that I have seen of the radar damage, in any short conflict, it won't have been available.
22:09So, even if they have all the parts, because there was substantial damage, if the damage is less, they can change some of those parts.
22:17But I would expect this was disabled for the foreseeable two, three weeks.
22:22Would the Pakistan army ever have imagined their frontline fighter bases, from Skardu, to Rafiki, to Jacobabad, to Sargoda, to Noor Khan, to Mureed, come down to Bulari.
22:39All of them could be targeted almost near simultaneously in 24 to 48 hours by the Indian Air Force, and there's nothing that they could do about it.
22:47Yes, and don't forget, this almost completes a chain of their critical assets.
22:52Yes.
22:53It was spread out, number of targets were reduced, but a clear message across, and only Karachi area was left, where Navy was very strongly poised.
23:02And it is just a measure of restraint shown, otherwise, if it had kind of continued for the next night, I wouldn't have been surprised at all if Karachi was hit badly.
23:12And Navy would have, Navy was absolutely ready, from the location that I can figure out, and I'm not seeing from any information, from my assessment, that would have been the next strong.
23:25Actually, Admiral Pramod mentioned that the Director General Naval Operations Admiral Pramod, he indicated that the Navy was totally dominating the seas.
23:35Absolutely.
23:35And ensuring that he's either inside the harbour, or very close to the coast.
23:40And Karachi is very important, and it is also very adjacent to some of their very sensitive strategies, their oil refineries, their other things.
23:49So damage to Karachi is another level of, you know, damage.
23:54That would have played on the mind of Defence Services to just hold on a little bit.
23:58Otherwise, next night, I think Karachi would have been targeted, and there was nothing stopping us.
24:04I also want to show our viewers some of the videos that came out, and some of these videos had come out from Pakistan itself, of the massive explosion taking place.
24:14You know, it's something like a slam dunk, and a whoosh, and a doom, like a massive boom.
24:19Yeah.
24:20I will play out those videos in just a moment, but as we wait for those videos to play out, let's also show you some of the other Air Base.
24:27Now, there, when you see the Pasroor air defence radar, now, Pasroor, once again, is taking down something which is very critical for the adversary.
24:37If we were to attack from the north, sir, just look at that radar dome being taken down there.
24:43Yeah, yeah. So, this kind of damage, like I said, this picture I had seen earlier, this radar is disabled.
24:53Mind you, some of these radars have some backups, they would have some backup assets which will get plugged in and plug some holes.
25:00But radar of this nature is difficult to replace in total. So, this won't get replaced. Some of the holes, you know, other radars would step in to plug some part of the hole.
25:12But there would still be a degrading effect on their network, and there would still be some holes left.
25:18What would Pakistan Air Force be thinking tonight? Jacobabad, one of the most important bases, Sargoda, very critical air base for them.
25:27Noor Khan, Rafiki. Rafiki is where they have their drones, I believe.
25:32Yeah, drones and their fighters too.
25:34And their fighters too.
25:35Yeah, yeah. Rafiki has been critical all along.
25:37JF-17s and the Miraj 3 and 5.
25:40That keeps changing. JF-17s have been there, F-16s have operated. That keeps shifting. It's not important.
25:46It would depend upon the situation, yeah.
25:48Sir, are their airfields, all their airfields in Pakistan, air bases, all, in the line of fire?
25:56I mean, I want you to look at this picture, sir. Noor Khan air base hit by India.
26:01Yeah.
26:01This is 7th of May.
26:02So, you can just imagine. And all these bombs are on target. Just imagine the damage.
26:09That they are on target is shown by satellite picture. The level of explosion is quite evident here.
26:16Therefore, you can just imagine the kind of damage.
26:20I mean, I've looked at… This is in Lahore.
26:24This is Lahore. This is Rahim Yar Khan air base. And we've also seen pictures from inside the airfield.
26:30So, if it goes this deep on the runway, this won't come up in 2-3 days. So, right now, Pakistan Air Force would be scrambling to fill up their runways and craters.
26:39So, the bottom layer is sand and then layers and layers and layers of cement.
26:44No, there would be scrambling, the kind of damage there. And you can see 2-3 days later, they will take the international media and try to show that there is no damage.
26:53They will be working 24 hours to repair this. This is how they operate.
26:59Yeah. I mean, they did that in 2019 at Balakot.
27:03Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it took them 40 days.
27:05But it took them 40 days there.
27:0740 days.
27:07But what kind of a bomb would have done this? I mean, a crater so deep and so wide.
27:13I won't go into that.
27:15I won't go into that. They should be rest assured that it's not only one variety of weapons that we can do this.
27:23There are many. But this is just a trailer, just a small trailer.
27:29This, of course, you know, this video, again, very fascinating. This came out in the press conference on day one.
27:34This would be a drone.
27:37This would be from a drone or a small U camp. This is apparently from a drone.
27:44You know, the Sarjal camp and the Mamuna Joya camp.
27:48Because I was told that the army itself has rigged some of these quadcopters that can just rig and drop the mortars also.
27:56Yeah, yeah. This is… But see how successfully achieved. Simple solution, how effectively employed.
28:03And the next one was a loitering munition.
28:07Yeah.
28:08Yeah.
28:08This is a drone-based ammunition.
28:13Fascinating.
28:14Now, I want to understand from you, is this imposing costs on Pakistan's state-sponsored radical Islamist terror?
28:23This would be perhaps, you know, if he's lost 11 air bases and radar stations and military sites and nine terror camps and Muritka and Bahawalpur.
28:33Yeah, absolutely. Imposing costs and currently more important than cost is, you know, affecting their prestige.
28:43And so, the imposition on their prestige within the country, internationally, exposing their nexus with the terrorism, terrorists,
28:56and the fact that they are willing to go this far to support their terrorists, life's loss in terrorists.
29:03So, I think the cost to that is much, much higher. And in times to come, that is what will hurt them.
29:09But will it? Because, you know, they lost half their country in 1971. Nothing happened to their army. It just became more powerful.
29:17And that poor man who, you know, threatened to wage a thousand-year war against India, Zulfikari Ali Bhutto, he was hanged.
29:24Benazir Bhutto was doing jag, jag, mo, mo, han, han. She was shot from behind.
29:30And now her son seems to be doing the same thing, ki jahan paani nahi baheyega to hoon baheyega, and he speaks half his side's language.
29:38Yeah. You see, it's very clearly a de facto army rule there, in terms of control, in terms of really doing what they are doing.
29:49And they have created this mess and reached economically and in their internal conflicts that are going on, Balochistan.
29:59So, they are in a mess.
30:01You would think Operation Sindhur has been a success in terms of targets acquired day one, the nine terror training camps, launch pads, Mureed Ke Bahawalpur, hundred-plus terrorists killed day two, day three.
30:12Because day two, you know, came on our side. Day two tried to inflict damages. We've had five fatalities.
30:18You know, unfortunately, we've lost five braves. We've lost an aircraft. Fortunately, the big point that was made by the Indian Air Force, all pilots are home safe.
30:29We should not have any element of doubt that as far as Operation Sindhur is concerned. It's a huge success. It is not only a success. It is an immense success.
30:40You see the level of targeting of terrorist sites and bases. Okay, Bahawalpur, Mureed Ke, we've had this on our radars or in our information folders for decades. We've never targeted.
30:53And when we targeted and destroyed it in full public gaze with the first videos and photographs coming from Pakistani public, you see the impact. You see the impact.
31:05What will be the impact on Aasem Muneer and, you know, their NSA and DGISI, General Aasem Malik, would they be, you know, sensitive or would they want to now avenge it and they will create like an entire army of Hafiz Saeeds and Masood Azhar's?
31:22No, they would, their policy is that, so they would continue that. But look how much face they have lost that their entire nexus with terrorism has got exposed to.
31:34So, the international community knew, but they didn't bother. Now they would be forced to bother.
31:40They would be forced to look at it, look at Pakistan again as epicenter of terrorism.
31:47When 9-11 happened, there was a lot of attention there. Osama bin Laden, again attention back to Pakistan.
31:53Then everybody just let Pakistan off the hook and they're still there.
31:58Noor Khan, look at this, there's another picture, Airstrike, Noor Khan Air Base, Pakistan. Some of his assets are still around.
32:06You know, while you've targeted some, you can still see an aircraft on the runway.
32:11Yeah, yeah. Obviously, there would be some asset which is, if it is far, it won't get damaged.
32:16But what was targeted, you see the impact there.
32:18Yeah.
32:19The kind of impact that is shown, nothing would survive there.
32:24The air base facility is, there's a truck that's gone.
32:28At least two trucks, likely military support related vehicles that have been destroyed.
32:33Air base action, post-strike image that we see, first strike, the target.
32:38And if we're saying that they're, you know, command and control, the AVAX or the advanced early warning system is gone, then that's a huge setback.
32:47This would have been chosen because of what lies there.
32:51Clearly, otherwise you don't target a building like this.
32:54Okay.
32:54And we were talking of Operation Sindhuur.
32:56So clearly, on the first day, it is absolute success.
33:01What we have done thereafter is because of what Pakistan did in terms of, you know, sending drones across and allotting munition, etc.
33:11And everything, at every state, they've been punished harder.
33:14Whatever action they took militarily, we took a proportionate action, but proportionate upwards always.
33:22And every night, we kind of increased.
33:24You punished him harder.
33:25I punished him harder, but all our targets were military targets.
33:28He spent a high-speed missile.
33:30I mean, are you indicating that he sent in a ballistic missile?
33:33Are you saying he would send…
33:35No, one of the missiles, there are signs that there was a ballistic missile too.
33:40But some were air-launched cruise missiles.
33:44Some of them have been intercepted.
33:46So they've done a combination of missiles.
33:48They've done a combination of, I think, ballistic has been used.
33:52I don't have confirmation.
33:53This is one picture that you must describe for the benefit of our viewers.
33:56This is the Jaish-e-Mohamad facility in Bahawalpur.
34:01I'm sure as a, you know, flying pilot, you've…
34:05As a Air Force fighter pilot, you've wargamed this.
34:09The bomb seems to have gone down level one, then the floor, and then it's gone down the crater.
34:15Absolutely.
34:15I mean, what kind of a bunker buster have you used here?
34:17Yeah, this, I won't name the bomb, but this is what we are capable of.
34:22And in this building, nothing would have survived.
34:26In this building, nothing would have survived.
34:28And the fact that this was chosen, it was.
34:31You see, it is in the center of that.
34:33Yes.
34:33So it's a very accurate targeting.
34:36And also, mind you, anything outside the building wouldn't have got destroyed.
34:40Yes.
34:40So if there are people outside, within 50 or 100 meters outside, on the roads, I think there is some civilian area close by.
34:47They wouldn't have died.
34:49So this is a very targeted attack, but classic damage, this image will haunt them for years.
34:55Okay, so is the message from India to Pakistan that if you're a terrorist or a terrorist supporter, don't sleep inside a building, sleep on the road if you want longevity?
35:06No, the sleep on the road, we'll get them on the road also.
35:09Once we know where they are, there is no hiding.
35:11So there is no place in Pakistan that we cannot reach today with our stand-up weapons.
35:18So the game has changed.
35:21Our rules have changed.
35:22It was zero terrorism.
35:23Now it is any act of terror would be act of war.
35:28So the future is going to be different.
35:32And Pakistan army better realize this and the ISI better realize this.
35:36They have to delink now.
35:37Otherwise, they and their assets which support terrorism and there is an act in our borders, they would be targets.
35:47They would be legit targets.
35:49Next time.
35:50Sir, I will let that be the last word on this part of the show.
35:53That's Air Chief Marshal RKS Badoria, former Chief of Air Staff, describing each and every target that was taken down, the significance of the target taken down and the damage it's inflicted, not just in terms of money, but the psyche of Pakistan's military terror complex.
36:13And those who backed for it, we will continue to expose Pakistan's military terror network.
36:18Air Chief Marshal Badoria for joining me here on this India Today broadcast.
36:23Many thanks, sir.