Pakistan had asked India for an explanation of the Indian actions after it stalled an Air Force chopper, which was carrying two army generals and their family members to the Indian embassy at Islamabad. Pakistan had threatened India that they would take action if the Indian military action continues.
Then as now, there was apprehension about the Indian reaction should such action come into play. In this case, there was also a threat that Islamabad would retaliate by blocking the country's only land border with India. A snake must have been in the picture somewhere, and as a result, India made a last-minute change of plans to land at Imphal rather than Islamabad.
They also came up with another excuse, as the Indian defense minister put it, "Indian troops can move in and out of Imphal as they wish, but cannot go into Pakistan from India." The aircraft had a problem with the runway and could not reach its destination. A snake or two could be in the scheme, and since India is a vast country, it is worth looking into the possibility of a snake laying the trap for our highly professional and highly trained flying squadrons.
More than likely, the delay in reaching Imphal by the chopper caused embarrassment for the Indian government and the military, and it forced them to react, and that is what they did. But before that, let us look at the snakes and their place in military operations.
You see, snakes are not as bad as you think. They are speedy and extremely agile, even the fastest shooter can not keep pace with a snake. A snake can get to any target it wants to within one hundred yards of the target, and if the snake does not meet with a challenge or opposition, then it will feed and travel on.
The snake is not aggressive unless provoked. It will be content to stay ina crawl or on a trail as long as it gets to its target, and if it does get out of its comfort zone, it will make it back into the area very quickly.
The snake can be just as deadly as a cobra or a tiger and can be used in a medical scenario to cut off a limb, for example, so that it can be removed. It is not always practical, and the animal may still survive, but it does not always do so.
The snake is actually used as a weapon, some animal handlers use them for fighting, but you need a lot of skill to be able to successfully handle a snake. A snake handler can be expected to have some degree of physical fitness. You might think this is pretty ridiculous, but snakes can break bones, and humans can be killed by these creatures.
There may be some people out there who are just naturally quick, and to them, it looks like a duck, not like a person and a snake. Maybe that is why they can climb mountains and zip around trees. Other people take up the snake for entertainment, and practice with the snake handler is considered to be another form of relaxation.
Some just watch a snake crawl around the ground or leap over a fence and think it looks cool. But those are not real snakes, and it would be hard to expect any other type of animal to act like a snake.
Snakes can be trained. It is the skill of handling a snake that makes the snake handler most valuable. Any other animal handler might be skilled in their field, but feeling a snake is hard, and there is no way they would learn it.
The snake handler is going to be the one to capture and kill the snake, and if it has a baby, it is going to die, so the snake handler needs to be able to handle the snake and communicate clearly with the snake in an appropriate manner. If you want to fly in a military jet, you are going to need people who can handle the snakes. Snakes and make sure that the passengers are not harmed by snakes.