Balakot Strikes Created New Benchmarks, Will be Difficult for Next Govt to Meet Yardstick, Says General Hooda

New Delhi: Retired senior officials from the Indian armed forces on Sunday called for non-politicisation of the military.

Speaking at News18's Agenda India summit here, Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy and General DS Hooda said it was important that politics be kept out of any that involving the military.

“Politicisation of military should be avoided. Keep politics out of it," said Krishnaswamy. “We, as soldiers and people in uniform, have less privileges. We come under military law. What we want to say we can’t say, we won’t say. But don’t instigate us. We are not an unhappy lot. Don’t push the military to politics."

General Hooda weighed in and said he was not surprised that politicisation of the military had begun right after the Balakot attack, which took place on February 26. Hooda, who has formulated a document on national security for the Congress party, said, “Increasingly, we are seeing the military becoming a central point for political discourse. I wasn’t surprised when the politicisation began."

The comments came even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a rally in Odisha where he cited Balakot as an example and asked people to vote for a government that delivered.

The former GOC of the Northern Command added that the Balakot strikes had created new benchmarks. It will be difficult for the next government, whichever one comes in, to meet such yardsticks, he added.

“Osama [bin Laden] was killed but that hasn’t killed al-Qaeda. Does that mean that America shouldn’t have gone in? Intent is extremely important," he said. Krishnaswamy added that the Balakot air strike was a military operation on a non-military target but an attack that was well-executed.

While General Hooda accepted that military equipment might be vintage, to say that it “limits us from responding to Pakistan terror attacks into India, I don’t think we can take it that far". Hoping for Pakistan to change its behaviour, irrespective of how many strikes were conducted, was not to something to be expected, he added.​