Eye on Pak, India flexes muscle in Arabian Sea | India News

NEW DELHI: India is keeping Pakistan on the edge by undertaking major muscle-flexing along the land and maritime boundaries, with the Army strongly responding to ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, the Navy conducting multiple missile firings by warships in the Arabian Sea and the IAF flying long-range day and night fighter sorties.
As Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged small arms fire along the 778-km LoC for the third consecutive night, the Navy on Sunday declared it had conducted multiple firings of anti-ship missiles to “revalidate and demonstrate the readiness of its platforms, systems and crew for long-range precision offensive strikes”.
The ratcheting up of pressure seems part of the strategy to keep Pakistan unsettled till decisive strikes can take place in a cold, calculated manner if the govt so decides after factoring in the requisite escalation matrix without crossing nuclear redlines.
In the Arabian Sea, at least four frontline destroyers and frigates have test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, whose strike range has been extended to 450 km from the original 290 km, and other weapons over the last few days.
With the Navy affirming that it stands “combat ready, credible and future-ready” to safeguard the nation’s interests “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” and releasing videos and photos of the firing drills, the strategic messaging was quite clear.
The air-breathing BrahMos, which flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8, is the prime conventional (non-nuclear) precision-strike weapon for the armed forces.
While the Army has at least four BrahMos regiments, the IAF has both land-based batteries as well as 40 Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets armed with the sleeker air-to-ground missile variants. They are likely to come into play, along with other stand-off weapons, when the Indian govt decides to exercise the military option of limited punitive strikes against Pakistan, which could range from concentrated fire assaults without crossing the LoC to deeper precision strikes by fighter jets, as reported by TOI earlier.
“Both PM Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh have made it quite clear that there will deadly retribution for not only the perpetrators of the Pahalgam massacre, but also their masters pulling the strings from behind the scenes,” a senior officer said.
Along the LoC, the Army said several Pakistan Army posts had again “initiated unprovoked firing” with small arms like rifles and light machine guns at Indian positions in several areas, like Tutmari Gali, Rampur, Uri, Gurez and Sunderbani sectors, late on Saturday night.
“Our troops responded in double measure effectively with appropriate small arms fire. If Pakistan Army begins using higher-calibre weapons (artillery guns, anti-tank guided missiles and 120mm mortars), we will also open up with them,” a senior officer told TOI.
“Heavy costs can certainly be imposed on the Pakistan Army for fuelling cross-border terrorism. It was the norm before the fresh understanding between the Indian and Pakistan DGMOs in Feb 2021 to maintain peace. Our dynamic response strategy is fully in place,” he added.
The IAF, too, is maintaining a high state of operational readiness. It has fully activated all air bases on the western front, with fighter jets undertaking regular CAPs (combat air patrols) and air defence missile systems geared towards shooting down aerial threats.