New Delhi: Former Army chief Dalbir Singh on Friday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking a "very bold decision" of approving surgical strikes in Myanmar and Pakistan in 2015 and 2016 respectively. One of the aims of the surgical strikes was "deterrence", Singh said, and the goal was achieved after the 2016 operation.
Singh, who was the Army chief when both the strikes were carried out, added that there has not been any major incident in Jammu and Kashmir after the daring operation.
"In June 2015, we conducted surgical strikes in Myanmar, and again in September 2016, we conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan. Both strikes were very successful without any loss of life...no casualty to our people.
"It was a very bold decision of our prime minister to approve the surgical strikes. So, the credit firstly goes to our prime minister. The credit also goes to my subordinates, my able commanders and brave soldiers who executed these surgical strikes," Singh told reporters. The 2015 strike in Myanmar was carried out by the Army following the killing of 20 soldiers by Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang faction (NSNC-K) in Manipur. Agencies