Surgical strike commandoes to be honoured during Republic Day parade

Fifteen members of the elite para commando forces who conducted the surgical strike on terror launchpads inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) on 29 September last year will be honoured with gallantry awards, reported News18.

Heroes of #SurgicalStrike to be conferred gallantry awards; 15 soldiers to be awarded on #RepublicDay eve, no Ashok Chakra Award this year pic.twitter.com/TJ3dheu3WU

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 25, 2017

The New Indian Express  in its 15 January edition had reported that the para troopers were recommended for the “unit citation” from army chief General Bipin Rawat. The publication had noted that Unit citation is the highest appreciation for a unit for its all-round operational performance including number of killings and less casualties on its side.

The report had also noted that the move may be to counter Pakistan’s constant denial of any surgical strike on its territory by the Indian Army.

However, a report in India Today stated that the elite troopers will not be participating in the Republic Day parade this year. The army however denied the development to be connected to last year’s surgical strike and claimed rotational policy to be the reason behind the decision.

“Para Commandos were there last year. This year the NSG Commandos are there. The Para Commandos may return next year,” Major General Rajesh Sahai was quoted by the publication as saying.

On 29 September, para commandos belonging to the Indian Army entered PoK and destroyed “terror lauchpads” along the borders. While India did not officially announced how many militants were killed in the strikes, and only said it managed to neutralise a “significant” number of terrorists.

However, Islamabad has been disputing the Indian claim of surgical strikes and said it had lost two soldiers in cross-border firing by Indian troops that night.