Attack on terrorist camp not an act of war, but our right: defence experts

New Delhi [India], Feb27 (ANI): Lauding the Indian Air Force (IAF) for Tuesday's air strikes targeting terror launch pads in Pakistan, defence and strategic analyst, JK Verma said that the air strike is not an act of war, "but our right to do so".
Speaking to ANI, Verma said that since no civilian or military installations were destroyed in the air strike, it is our right to attack such terrorist camps, especially since the terrorists in the camp were planning more attacks on India.
"It is certainly not an action for war because we have not destroyed the military or civil installations. Indian Air Force attacked the terrorist camps and in those camps, the terrorists were planning other actions in India. It is our right to do it. It would be an act of war if Pakistan attacks India, because, in India, we have no terrorist camps," said Verma.
He added that it should be seen as "a defensive attack and not an offensive attack."
Verma also congratulated the government on the news of France backing India for its fight against terrorism, saying that the government is doing things in "a very planned way".
Another defense expert Qamar Agha said that the air strikes will have far-reaching consequences, considering that Pakistan Army's prestige was damaged after that.  
"This will have far-reaching consequences. On one side we damaged the militant camps, and on the other side, their army's prestige was also damaged. Pakistan Army sees itself as the guardian of the Islamic state. This is an army that talks big but loses every war," said Agha.
India on Tuesday carried out air strikes on a terror camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot, a hill town in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, destroying a major camp of JeM and eliminating a "large number" of terrorists, including top commanders, of the terror group which attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14. (ANI)