Idealism lost us chance to get PoK back: Arup Raha

A usually reticent IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, got candid on Thursday and strongly indicated that had India opted for a military solution, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) would have been in India.

“When a military solution was in sight, taking a moral high ground, I think, we went to UN for a peaceful solution to this problem. The problem still continues. PoK remains a thorn in our flesh today,” ACM Raha said at an aerospace seminar.

The IAF chief’s remark a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of atrocities committed by Pakistan in PoK and Balochistan is a clear indication of a significant and aggressive stance in Indian policy towards these restive areas. Pakistani forces occupied PoK, a 400-km-long region, in 1947.

“We’ve been governed by high ideals and did not follow a pragmatic approach, to my mind, to security needs. To that extent, we ignored the role of military power,” he said, adding India was “reluctant” to use military power, specially air power, to deter adversaries.

He recalled air power was under-utilised in 1962 due to fear of a skirmish and in 1965 air power was not used against East Pakistan “because of political reasons”.