The Indian Air Force had prepared a strike package of Mirage 2000s and Su-30MKIs to target Pakistan's terror training camps in Muzaffarabad and Balakot after the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008, but the operation was never cleared by the national leadership, said Group Captain Mohonto Panging Pao (retired).

Speaking on The Sandeep Unnithan Show, Group Captain Panging mentioned that he was commanding a Su-30MKI squadron when the 26/11 attacks took place in Mumbai. The 26/11 Mumbai attacks were carried out by 10 Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who targeted multiple locations across the city. The attacks lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people.

Group Captain Panging says his squadron was deployed in northern India for a month with missiles and aircraft ready for a possible strike. “We had deployed at an airbase in Northern India for one month, we were issued with a full complement of missiles and we had everything ready to execute the surgical strikes in 2008,” Panging said.

He recalled that pilots practised close formation flying at night and prepared for a route that would allow them to approach the targets without being detected early. He also said that the deployment location was not disclosed to the pilots in his squadron.

The squadron was maintaining the aircraft and preserving their flying hours while waiting for a decision. The plan ultimately did not move ahead. “The national leadership did not give the final go ahead,” Panging said. 

Panging also recalled the mood among his squadron personnel waiting for the strike. He said airmen and ground personnel would write messages on the bombs and missiles as they waited for the order to attack. He described the personnel as being eager to take revenge for the Mumbai attacks. 

The IAF finally struck at Balakot, using Mirage 2000s, 11 years later on February 26, 2019. The air strike was in response to a February 14 suicide bomb attack at Pulwama in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed. It was the first time the IAF had crossed the international border into Pakistan after the 1971 war. 

He also linked the preparations after 26/11 to the later use of air power against terror targets. He pointed to the 2016 surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot strike as examples of India subsequently using military force in response to terror attacks.

The existence of an IAF proposal for retaliatory action after 26/11 has also been publicly discussed by other senior former Air Force officers. Former Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said in earlier interviews that the IAF was ready with a contingency plan after the Mumbai attacks. Former Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa later said the IAF had proposed retaliatory air strikes after both the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but the proposals were not approved.

Watch the full podcast: https://youtu.be/G7yXFfBGEas?si=SRpmDzrDvkPQzjnW 

Savio Rodrigues

Savio Rodrigues is a Research Analyst at Escape Velocity MediaWorks Pvt Ltd and writes for Chakra News on Defence, Geopolitics, National Security. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Mumbai.