Amritsar: The Indian Army showcased its air defence capabilities in Amritsar, highlighting how systems like the AKASH missile and L-70 Air Defence Guns successfully protected the Golden Temple and Key cities in Punjab from Pakistani missile and drone threats.Major General Kartik C Seshadri, GOC, 15 Infantry Division, emphasised the nation's swift military response following the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians, including a Nepali citizen. He said that under strong leadership, the retaliatory Operation Sindoor was launched, targeting terror infrastructure."Nine targets were hit. Of the nine targets, seven were exclusively destroyed by the Indian Army. Of these targets, the Muridke, which is in proximity of Lahore houses the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba headquarters as also the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) headquarters at Bahawalpur, which were struck with absolute precision," he said.He said that the Indian army had anticipated Pakistan's move to target its military installations along with civilian establishments here, including religious places such as the Golden Temple, which was the prime target according to information received from the intelligence."Knowing that the Pak Army does not have any legitimate targets, we anticipated that they would target Indian military installations, civilian targets, including religious places. Of these, the Golden Temple appeared to be the most prominent. We mobilised additional modern air defence assets to give a holistic air defence umbrella cover to Golden Temple," Major General Seshadri said."On 8th May early morning, in the hours of darkness, Pakistan carried out a massive air assault with unmanned aerial weapons, primarily drones and long-range missiles. We were fully prepared since we had anticipated this, and our braveheart and alert army air defence gunners thwarted Pakistan Army's nefarious designs and shot down all drones and missiles targeted at the Golden Temple. Thus, not allowing even a scratch to come on our holy Golden Temple," Seshadri said.He clarified that no Pakistani military or civilian infrastructure was targeted. The demonstration was aimed at reassuring citizens of the Army's readiness and the precision of its retaliatory capabilities in the face of cross-border terrorism. (with ANI inputs)
00:00Indian Army remains steadfast on the path of modernization and focused transformation of which indigenization is a significant component for self-reliance.
00:11Honorable Raksha Mantri has declared 2025 as the year of reforms and our visionary chief of the army staff has announced this decade and beyond as the enduring decade of transformation with many important contributing pillars for constructive change.
00:27Army Air Defense is an important arm to be modernized. We have a multi-tiered layered air defense concept with all weather capable platforms.
00:37Detection and targeting at various ranges with day and night surveillance, tracking systems and fire control radars with a suitable mix of gun and missile weapons gives us a comprehensive capability.
00:50All these assets along with the Air Force and Navy resources are integrated by an indigenously developed in-house built Akastir system to give us a common air picture or what is called as a recognized air situation picture which enables faster decision making and effective targeting to neutralize all hostile air threats.
01:11Army Air Defense is a very powerful, modern and effective component of nation's air defense. Our nation's air space will remain secure.
01:21Indian Army Air Defense is a professional, righteous and responsible force which in spite of grave provocations has always responded in a calibrated and measured manner.
01:32We target only terrorists in non-terrorist camps with precision weapons ensuring that there is no collateral damage, a fact which even Pakistan Army has admitted during operations in Dur.
01:42However, Pakistan Army has no legitimate targets to strike inside India, nor does it have the courage or capability to stand up to Indian armed forces face to face.
01:52Hence, it uses terrorism as a national policy and resorts to unmanned aerial weapons launched from its own soil.
02:00Drones and long-range missiles were launched and fired from its own territory which were his mainstay.
02:06Indian military installations, civilian population centers, including innocent ladies and children were also not spared and were considered as legitimate targets by the Pakistan military.
02:17He has even targeted religious places specifically, a case in point being the Golden Temple located in Amritsar, which is internationally renowned and a place of faith for everybody.
02:28It saw a surfeit of drone and missile attacks, which were thwarted bravely by our Army AD gunners.
02:37The Indian Armed Forces and Army Air Defense gunners will continue to defeat all his designs and thwart all aerial threats always.
