Golden Temple was on Pakistan's hit list. How Indian air defence systems stopped Pak aerial attacks cold

The Indian Army confirmed that Pakistan targeted the Golden Temple in Amritsar in Punjab during the recent military stand-off between the two countries.

While Indian security forces knew that Pakistan did not have any legitimate targets, they expected the country to go for military installations, and civilian targets, including places of religious significance in India. "Of these, the Golden Temple appeared to be the most prominent. We mobilised additional modern air defence assets to give a holistic air defence cover to Golden Temple," news agency ANI quoted Major General Kartik C. Seshadri, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 15th Infantry Division, as saying.

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According to him, Pakistan used a variety of aerial weapons, including long-range missiles and drones to target the Golden Temple, but these were neutralised with Indian air defence systems, including the Akash missile system and L-70 guns.

Introduced into the Indian Army in the 1960s, L-70 guns have undergone important upgrades in the wake of evolving aerial threats and are an integral part of India’s short-range air defence.

"On 8th May early morning...Pakistan carried out a massive air assault with unmanned aerial weapons, primarily drones and long-range missiles. We were fully prepared since we had anticipated this, and our alert army air defence gunners thwarted Pakistan army's nefarious designs and shot down all drones and missiles targeted at the Golden Temple," Major General Seshadri said.

The Indian Army showed a demonstration of how these air defence systems were used to protect the Golden Temple.

According to Major General Seshadri, the Pakistan military is unable to face its Indian counterpart in conventional operations. "It has conveniently outsourced its military tasks to proxies and terrorists. Pakistan military posts often abet infiltration by firing onto own posts to distract and divert our attention away from infiltrating terrorists," he said, adding that if any infiltration succeeds, then by integrated intelligence network along with the police and CAPF, the infiltrators are quickly neutralised by a combination of technology and tactics by our quick reaction teams.

Defence