Balakot strike: Omar takes jibe at Modi for ‘cloud can help jets escape radar’ comment

Srinagar: Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged comment that he suggested that clouds and rain can prevent Pakistani radars from detecting Indian fighter jets during Balakot air strike, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said this is an important piece of tactical information that will be critical when planning future air strikes.
“Pakistani radar doesn’t penetrate clouds. This is an important piece of tactical information that will be critical when planning future air strikes,” Mr Abdullah, who is the Vice President of National Conference (NC), wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.
“The weather suddenly turned bad, there were clouds… heavy rain. There was a doubt about whether we can go in the clouds. During a review (of the Balakot plan), by and large the opinion of experts was – what if we change the date. I had two issues in mind. One was secrecy… second, I said I am not someone who knows the science. I said there is so much cloud and rain. There is a benefit. I have a raw wisdom, the clouds can benefit us too. We can escape the radar. Everyone was confused. Ultimately I said there are clouds… let’s proceed,” PM Modi said in an interview to a national news channel.
Mr Modi’s account of the strikes was tweeted from the ruling BJP’s official handle in Gujarat. “The weather was not good on the day of airstrikes. There was a thought that crept in the minds of the experts that day of strike should be changed. However, I suggested that the clouds can actually help our planes escape the radars,” the tweet read.
The tweet was later deleted though Mr Abdullah tweeted a screenshot of the tweet along with the text which read, “Looks like the tweet got lost in the clouds. Luckily there are screen shots floating around to help.”