Surgical strike was overhyped, says retired Lt General DS Hooda

Two years after surgical strikes were carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC), Lt Gen (retd) D S Hooda on Friday alleged that the hype associated with the Surgical Strike was not needed.

Speaking to ANI, Hooda said, 'I do think there was too much hype over it. The military operation was important and we had to do it. Now how much should it have been politicised, whether it is right or wrong is something that should be asked to politicians.'

Elaborating upon how the forces on the border should react to events that occur on the Line of Control (LoC), Hooda said, 'I think the way the things are going on the LoC, we must have a pro-active and unpredictable response unless Pakistan does something to ease tensions and stop infiltrations.'

However, former Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag in September revealed that the Indian Army had been preparing for the 2016 surgical strike since June 2015, adding that the troops were told that failure was "not an option". Moreover, Suhag had claimed that if needed, there can be another strike as well.

'We have exhibited our capability. Our troops are motivated and now having done it once, troops are also confident of doing it again. So, if we can do it once, we can do it again and if necessary again and again," he had said.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever