Army, Intel Experts Caution Against Sharing Footage Of Surgical Strikes: 10 Updates

In the middle of political sparring over last week's surgical strikes, a suggestion by Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress that the government should share evidence to counter Pakistan's propaganda has been strongly disapproved by army and intelligence experts, with one ex-chief calling the idea "disturbing".
 

1. "It is a diplomatic and political call for the government to take," top army sources have told NDTV.
   
2. Former army chief General Shankar Roychowdhury said India should "definitely not" put out anything on the strikes in the public domain as Pakistan's army and intelligence are waiting to pounce on information about India's operational techniques.
   
3. "It is an ongoing operation and the ISI (Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence) and Pakistan army are eagerly looking forward to whatever they can pick up, particularly from the Indian media, because 80 per cent of all intelligence comes from open sources," said General Roychowdhury, who was army chief from 1994 to 1997.
   
4. Another former chief General JJ Singh concurred. "I don't believe anybody has right to question the fact that we have conducted the operations and that we should show them evidence," he said on Wednesday.
   
5. After midnight last Wednesday, Indian troops went across the Line of Control and targeted seven terror launch pads or staging areas in Pakistan Occupied Territory. The army said "significant casualties" had been caused in the strikes seen as retaliation for the terror attack on an army camp in Kashmir's Uri last month in which 19 soldiers were killed.
   
6. Pakistan says the surgical strikes never took place and were really nothing more than "cross-border firing".
   
7. Opposition Congress leaders and Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, say proof of the strikes must be shared by the government, a suggestion that has been roundly criticised by the ruling BJP.
   
8. Military sources confirmed that footage of the strikes-filmed in part by drones - was submitted last week to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
   
9. At a meeting this morning of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by the Prime Minister, sources say, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said that nearly 100 terrorists are being prepped to cross the Line of Control and launch attacks in India.
   
10. The security panel met this morning for the second time since the surgical strikes. The group, which includes the Home, Foreign and Defence Ministers, was told that after India's action, the Pakistani infantry is protecting launch pads near the Line of Control or de facto border in Jammu and Kashmir.