ISLAMABAD: Hours after an Indian minister admitted that no Pakistani soldier or civilian was killed in the air strike carried out on Balakot by the Indian Air Force on Feb 26, the public affairs wing of the military on Thursday expressed satisfaction, even joy, that truth had come out at last.

“Finally the truth [has been revealed] under ground reality compulsions,” said director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor in a tweet.

However, he expressed the hope that truth about wrong Indian claims about purported successes on the battlefield would also come out soon.

“Hopefully, so will be about other false Indian claims i.e. surgical strike [of] 2016, denial of shooting down of 2 IAF jets by PAF and claim about F16. Better late than never,” added Gen Ghafoor’s tweet.

ISPR chief happy over Indian foreign minister’s statement on Balakot attack

Speaking at a women’s rally in Ahmadabad, India’s External Affairs Minister and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had acknowledged that no Pakistani soldier or citizen had died in the Balakot air strike.

She claimed the air strike had been carried out in “self-defence”. “When we carried out air strike across the border after the Pulwama terror attack, we had told the international community that we took that step in self-defence only.

“We had told the international community that the armed forces were instructed not to harm any Pakistani citizen or its soldier during the strike.”

The minister added: “The army was told to target only the terror camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which had taken the responsibility for the Pulwama attack.

“And, our army did the same without harming any Pakistani citizen or soldier,” she said.

The Indian minister was of the opinion that the international community had supported India over the air strike.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2019