Who is Air Marshal AK Bharti, the man behind planning precision airstrikes on Pakistan terror camps?

Air Marshal AK Bharti on Sunday said Operation Sindoor effectively destroyed terror camps, achieving its objectives with precision. He stressed that the operations' impact is evident to the world. Addressing a press briefing on Sunday evening, Air Marshal Bharti said, "Have we achieved our objectives of decimating the terrorist camps, and the answer is a thumping Yes and the results are for the whole world to see."

Air Marshal Bharti said that the Indian Air Force had downed several Pakistani planes while preventing enemy aircraft from breaching Indian airspace. "Their planes were prevented from entering inside our border. Definitely, we have downed a few planes. Definitely, there are losses on their side which we have inflicted," he said.

Who is Air Marshal AK Bharti?

Air Marshal AK Bharti is a fighter combat leader. He is currently posted as the DGAO of the Indian Air Force (IAF). He had also served in various capacities in the Advanced headquarters in Eastern Air Command as well as the Central Air Command. Bharti was commissioned into the IAF's flying branch in 1987. He is reportedly a postgraduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) and the National Defence College (NDC). He was commissioned into the fighter branch in June 1987.

He led a Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron from August 2005 to September 2007, reports suggest. As the DGAO, Air Marshal Bharti was at the forefront of planning and conducting precision air strikes after the Pahalgam attack. Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, targeting nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK). This operation was a retaliatory response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, including one Nepali national.

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Following India's operation, the conflict between India and Pakistan deepened, which resulted in increased cross-border shelling from Pakistan and retaliatory action from the Indian Armed Forces. Areas across the border were set up on high alert and there were blackouts whenever attacks from Pakistan took place. However, both countries agreed to a cessation of hostilities on May 10 when US President Donald Trump, on his Truth Social, announced a "ceasefire" between India and Pakistan.