Army, Navy, IAF chiefs meet PM, discuss military preparedness

The three chiefs also met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

NEW DELHI: Several hours after the Indian Air Force (IAF) warplanes struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan, the three service chiefs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him about the country's preparedness to deal with any possible retaliatory action by Islamabad.

According to official sources, PM Modi congratulated the service chiefs, particularly Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa for the successful operation.

Separately, the three chiefs met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and discussed overall preparation of the forces to deal with any eventualities, the sources said.

The airstrikes on the JeM terrorist training camp in Balakot, 80 km from the Line of Control, was the first operation inside Pakistan by India since the 1971 war. 

At least 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the IAF carried out "non-military, pre-emptive airstrikes" across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan's Balakot around 3:30 AM on Tuesday and destroyed a massive Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist camp in Pakistan's Balakot in which ''a large number of terrorists'' were also eliminated.

The IAF sources said the Mirage fighters dropped approximately 1000 kg of bombs on terror camps across the LoC and completely destroyed it. 

Pakistani military confirmed that the IAF jets entered deep into Pakistan and reached Balakot, a town in Mansehra district in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa before Pakistani Air Force tried to intercept them. Pakistani armed forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor claimed that IAF jets were intercepted by PAF near Balakot.

Pakistani military confirmed that the IAF jets entered deep into Pakistan and reached Balakot, a town in Mansehra district in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa before Pakistani Air Force tried to intercept them. Pakistani armed forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor claimed that IAF jets were intercepted by PAF near Balakot.

The IAF fighters "released payload in haste while escaping which fell near Balakot". He added that there were no casualties or damage to the Pakistani side.

It has also emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed the real-time updates of IAF's pre-dawn operation to strike down terror camps in Pakistan on Tuesday. PM Modi supervised the entire operation from the situation room at Rashtrapati Bhavan's South Block. 

Top intelligence sources told Zee Media that multiple options were given to Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa who chalked out the entire strike plan. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had also detailed the PM on the IAF operation earlier. 

After the successful completion of the operation, top foreign diplomats of the US, China, Russia, UK, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey and six ASEAN nations were duly briefed about today's operation.