Surgical Strike Day- Parakram Parv
14, Sep 2018
Prelims level : Defence
Mains level :
Why in news?
- Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar said that the celebration of September 29 as Surgical Strike Day in universities was not compulsory but claimed that it was decided on the advice of many students.
Surgical strike:
- On 29 September 2016, border skirmishes between India and Pakistan began following reported “surgical strikes” by India against militant launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir.
- The operations began at 12.30 am when the commandos of Indian Army were dropped at Line of Control (LoC) in the region of Pakistan controlled and administered Kashmir. The surgical operations were conducted in Bhimber, Holspring, Kel and Lipa sectors across the LoC in Pakistan. As claimed by India, during the surgical strike, 7 military launch pads were destroyed and 38 terrorists and 2 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Before the attack, the army forces walked for 1-3 km destroying terrorist bases. All the Indian soldiers returned safely, except one who accidently stepped on a land mile.
- Pakistan rejected India’s reports of any other casualties. Pakistani sources reported that at least 8 Indian soldiers were killed in the exchange, and one was captured. India confirmed that one of its soldiers was in Pakistani custody.
- The Indian operation was said to be in retaliation for a militant attack on the Indian army at Uri on 18 September in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir that left 19 soldiers dead.
- In the succeeding days and months, India and Pakistan continued to exchange fire along the border in Kashmir, resulting in dozens of military and civilian casualties on both sides.
After Effect of Surgical Strike:
- Pakistan claimed that there had been no surgical strike conducted at LoC by India. It also increased the terrorist activities in India and strained the relations shared by both the countries.
- It also had a negative impact on the film industry, encountering a significant uprising amongst the citizens on the issue of casting Pakistani actors despite the tension across the border.
- It also saw the formation of allied groups as Pakistan feared of another attack on a larger scale. The Modi government began gathering support from the neighbouring countries like Japan and Germany whereas Pakistan tried to improve their relationship with China.
- In today’s political scenario, every country is trying to strengthen their powers hoping against the odds.