Lauding the troops involved in surgical strikes on the launch pads across the LoC, Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar said on Saturday that “we will give a befitting reply to those who try to harm us.”
Comparing the power of the Army to that of Hanuman, Mr. Parikkar said, “I only made the Army aware of the powers it already possessed and it succeeded. On Modi ji’s instructions the Army did a brilliant job. On behalf of the country, I congratulate the troops [involved in the surgical strikes].”
Parikkar, who was addressing a gathering in Uttarakhand’s Peethsain in Pauri district, said that Pakistan was in an “unconscious” state after the surgical strikes. It was, therefore, denying that the strikes happened.
Speaking on the motive of the strikes, Mr. Parikkar, in his first public statement after the surgical strikes said, “We don’t want to capture any country. Like Lord Rama conquered Lanka and gave it to Vibhishan. We did the same in the Bangladesh operation .”
The Defence Minister added that if Pakistan continued with such conspiracies, India will not hesitate to give them a befitting reply again.
On Thursday India had carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads along the LoC with the Army inflicting significant casualties on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK, marking a clear departure from its response to cross-border terrorism in the past. The strikes were conducted 10 days after the terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri that left 20 soldiers dead.
