Why Shashi Tharoor Could Be Right: Army Had Said First Surgical Strike Was Carried Out In 2016

Last Updated:May 29, 2025, 09:17 IST

The Army’s Northern Command Chief in 2016, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had said after the surgical strikes in September 2016 that this was a first.

A file photo of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (PTI Image)

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor could have been right in saying that India breached the Line of Control (LoC) for the first time in 2016 to carry out surgical strikes. Both the Indian Army in a press conference in 2016 and through an RTI reply had said the same.

The Army’s Northern Command Chief in 2016, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had said after the surgical strikes in September 2016 that this was a first. He had quoted an RTI reply given by the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) which clarified that the first such surgical strike was carried out in 2016. “Army does not have any data pertaining to surgical strikes if carried out before September 29, 2016," the RTI reply said, upon a query if surgical strikes happened between 2004 and 2014 under the tenure of the UPA government as well.

A political future has been raised by the Congress over Tharoor’s remarks, saying they are factually wrong. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has cited a media report to claim that S Jaishankar, as the foreign secretary had told a parliamentary committee in October 2016 that “target-specific, limited-calibre, counter-terrorist operations" had been carried out by the Army across the LoC in the past too. Such parliamentary committee briefings, however, are secret and do not have any records.

The Congress wants Tharoor, an MP from the party, hence, to correct the remarks he has made abroad as part of an all-party delegation.

“Pawan Khera is speaking a lie…the Army has already laid out the facts in a RTI reply. It is also a fact that UPA under Manmohan Singh did nothing after the Mumbai 26/11 attacks," BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said.

“For the first time, India breached the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base, a launch pad… (after) the Uri strike in September 2016. That was something we had not done before. Even during the Kargil War, we had not crossed the LoC," Tharoor said earlier this week.

Congress leader Udit Raj took another swipe at Tharoor on Thursday saying the BJP should make Tharoor the External Affairs Minister since he was doing a better job than even the BJP spokesperson in defending the government. Tharoor, however, seems unruffled. “We should go after the perpetrators, the killers, ourselves, and we will do so. But those who give them safe haven, those who protect, finance, train, arm, dispatch, and guide them should also be held accountable," Tharoor said in Panama on Wednesday.

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