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Updated: Dec 07, 2018 23:49 IST

“The military leadership must guard against becoming a tool in the hands of politicians. We can’t take military action to suit someone politically,” Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd), the Northern Army Commander at the helm of surgical strikes in September 2016, said, adding that though the action needed publicity to boost soldiers’ morale, the excess hype and political one-upmanship around it was uncalled for.

The veteran was moderating a session on the “Role of cross-border operations and surgical strikes” on Day 1 of the Military Literature Festival organised by the Punjab government at Lake Club in Chandigarh on Friday.

Col Ajai Shukla (retd), a defence analyst, pointed out that the strikes helped the Modi government burnish its nationalistic image and gave the BJP a thumping win in the UP elections.