NEW DELHI, Oct 2 - The surgical strikes by the Indian Army across the LoC targeting terrorist camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) that led to escalation of tension between the two neighbours, is not a one-off incident though it marks a strategic shift in policy by the Narendra Modi Government.
According to a senior diplomat, who once dealt with Pakistan affairs, the current operation may be seen as a strategic shift in India�s approach. In the Modi regime, Special Forces operations have been publicised twice � once in Myanmar in June 2015 and this recent strike.
According to sources, in March, 1998, an Indian Special Forces unit is alleged to have killed 22 people at the village of Bandala, in the Chamb sector. The Pakistani military then claimed to have recovered an Indian-made watch from the scene, along with a hand-written note which asked, �How does your own blood feel?� It has also been alleged that the Bandala operation was carried out to avenge the massacre of 29 Hindu villagers at Prankote, in Jammu and Kashmir, by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In May 1999, Pakistani forces kidnapped Captain Saurabh Kalia, along with sepoys Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Arjun Ram, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh. A post-mortem revealed that their bodies had been burned with cigarette-ends and their genitals had been mutilated.
In January 2000, seven Pakistani soldiers were alleged to have been captured in the Nadala enclave, across the Neelam River. Their bodies were returned. Pakistan claimed they bore torture marks, said sources.
On February 24, 2000, the Pakistan Army claimed that there was a savage massacre in Lanjote village in Nakyal-Kotli sector in PoK with 16 bodies strewn on the streets. Pakistan Army officials claimed there was again a handwritten note which said �how does your own blood feel�. Pakistan has claimed that the killings were carried out by Indian Special Forces. India has not responded to the allegations but intelligence officials do point out that after this, the mass killing of Hindus by terrorist outfits like the LeT had stopped.
In June 2008, Pakistani troops attacked the Kranti border observation post near Salhotri village in Poonch, killing several Gurkha Regiment soldiers in Jawashwar Chhame. Days after, the retaliation came as Pakistani Army officials reported the beheading of one of their soldiers in the Bhattal sector in Poonch. Finally on August 30, 2011, Pakistan complained that three soldiers, including a JCO, were beheaded in an Indian raid on a post in the Sharda sector, across the Neelam River valley in Kel. It was said that this was in retaliation for the decapitation of two Indian soldiers near Karnah.
In the North-East, on June 7 last year an Indian Army statement said they had inflicted �significant casualties� Soldiers from the Indian army targeted militant groups along the border with Myanmar, with Special Forces allegedly also entering Myanmar to perform �surgical strikes�.
A statement by the army said its offensive had resulted in �significant casualties� among the militants who killed 20 Indian soldiers in the region less than a week ago in June. However, India never formally confirmed the operation and NSCN (K) faction too claimed that it was a failure.
Meanwhile, taking note of the �mass anger� among the people of India after the Uri attack, the Prime Minister started with diplomatic options � by looking to isolate Pakistan at the global stage; then moving to the economic one � by looking to review the Indus Water Treaty and MFN status to Pakistan, before finally exercising the military option through the recent LoC strike by the India Army. The strike broadcast a message to Pakistan, and the world, of a paradigm shift in India�s strategic regime.
