NEW DELHI, Mar 16:
Sending out a message to Pakistan, India today said it wants good relations but not at the cost of its “pride, dignity and self-respect” and that it will ensure that “our enemies” cannot go scot-free as even small incidents of terrorism have to be “treated as war”.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also asserted in Lok Sabha that security has been stepped up on the borders since in the wake of Pathankot Airbase attack of January.
He said till now it has not found through which route the attackers of Pathankot Airbase came but insisted that six terrorists were involved in the attack, amid contention by the NIA that the investigators had found only four bodies.
Parrikar as also Home Minister Rajnath Singh were responding to a debate during which the Government came in for a scathing attack over handling of the Pathankot attack, with the opposition dubbing as a “critical mistake” the decision to handover the operation to NSG.
The opposition also questioned as to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lahore stopover had achieved, noting that the terror strike had happened just a few days after that.
In his reply, Singh said India wants good relations with all neighbours but not at the cost of self-respect.
“We want good relations with all our neighbours. We want good relations with Pakistan too, but not at the cost of this country’s pride, dignity and self-respect,” the Home Minister said.
Parrikar noted that there are certain organisations across the border in Pakistan which are making statements and they “should be taught lessons”.
“We are in the process definitely to ensure that our enemies cannot go scot-free,” Parrikar said, adding “the compromise made earlier was probably one of the reasons as to why we are suffering today.”
In a veiled attack on the previous UPA Government, the Defence Minister said, “I have seen many instances. I do not want to quote more instances. I can quote many instances when military intelligence has been sacrificed at the altar of political goals.”
Talking about Pathankot attack, Parrikar said it was “an accumulation of asymmetric war. These are small attacks of weak forces on a stronger force. When the weak forces know themselves that they are not going to succeed in defeating the stronger force… They try to create disturbances and demoralise strong force.”
He then added, “I can assure that the gaps have been filled and we have already security audit of all defence establishments.”
With regard to the criticism over handling of the Pathankot attack, Parrikar said “Army acted properly” and standard operating procedures were followed. “You cannot have a running commentary about such operations on television channels. This puts security forces in danger,” he added.
The Home Minister said while different Governments might have different action plans, nobody can say that their strategy is foolproof.
“No one can point finger on any Government’s intention when it comes to national security… When all political parties contribute only then we can ensure safety and security of nation,” Singh said.
Responding to questions by some members as to why Punjab was chosen for the attack, Parrikar said it was because security forces have tightened their grip in Jammu and Kashmir.
Giving figures, he said, “I would like to indicate very clearly that the security forces tightening in Jammu and Kashmir has resulted in heat on terrorists and they are trying to shift downwards. Probably, Pathankot is one of the reasons why this has happened.”
He noted that in the last one-and-a-half years, there has been no attack on Army installation in J&K.
During discussion, Congress President Sonia Gandhi seemed visibly dissatisfied with the reply given by Parrikar and was heard saying “we don’t want all the details”. She was also seen at times nodding her head in disapproval about certain remarks.
Furnishing statistics about Jammu and Kashmir, Parrikar said that in 2014, 104 terrorists were neutralised and only 31 security personnel died. Last year, 97 terrorists were killed while 33 security personnel lost their lives.
“I assure the House that our defence forces have taken and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that there is no breach in security of the defence establishments. Also the command and control is perfectly well established,” he said, adding “no one needs to worry about this.”
Debunking allegations that Army was not involved in the decision-making with respect to handling the attack, the Defence Minister said Army was in command of the operations.
Since NSG is trained for urban warfare, they were deployed as the Air base had around 3,000 families, he said.
Meanwhile, to drive home the point that security has been stepped up on borders, Singh said there were 121 infiltration attempts in 2015 while the number stood at 222 in 2014.
Compared to last year, there has been 17 per cent decline in the number of soldiers who became martyrs and over 30 per cent fall in civilian casualties, he said.
The Government is also doing security audit of the borders to fill all the gaps, he added.
Responding to allegations that there was no coordination within the Government, Parrikar asserted that there is good coordination between him and the Home Minister.
Singh too said that “close and effective” coordination that was needed was there during the Pathankot incident.
When he was reminded that Rajnath Singh had tweeted on January 1 that the operation was over, Parrikar said “probably there was a small error which was immediately corrected”.
“We totally foiled the terrorists’ attempt to make a big scenario,” Parrikar said.
With regard to contention of NIA which is probing Pathankot incident that only four terrorists were killed, Parrikar said six attackers were neutralised over two days.
“Four terrorists were killed on the first day… Next day, the balance two terrorists were engaged and killed,” he said, adding that lives of seven security personnel were lost.
Citing the latest forensic report, Singh said burnt mass of human male have been found inside the building but the identities are yet to be ascertained.
“The incident (Pathankot terrorist attack) took only 43 hours and not 2-3 days and the terrorists were confined in 200×200 zone,” Parrikar said and took a swipe at some members saying that some spoke on the basis of media reports.
“I want to make it clear that till now it has not found through which route the terrorists who attacked Pathankote air base came… NIA is investigating the matter”, he noted.
“I assure the House that the Government has taken steps to ensure that there is no breach in security…No one need to worry,” he stressed.
Earlier, the Government today came in for a scathing attack in Lok Sabha over the handling of the terror strike on the Pathankot air base, with the opposition dubbing as a “critical mistake” the decision to handover the operation to NSG.
They also questioned as to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lahore stopover had achieved, noting that the terror strike had happened just a few days after that.
Participating in a discussion on the issue, Kalikesh Singhdeo (BJD) singled out the National Security Advisor for attack, saying he had “usurped” the decision-making powers to tackle the incident.
Singhdeo wondered as to why the Army was not asked to deal with the terror strike as 50,000 troops were available in Pathankot itself and they were the best to tackle such situations.
Lashing out at the Government over its handling of Pathankot terror attack and its overall Pakistan policy, the Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said while there was no coordination between Defence and Home Ministries, the Cabinet Committee on Security had no meeting on the situation.
It was more a “show off” and less effective, he said.
Scindia said the Government cannot tread the path of walking alone (akele chalo) without taking the Opposition into confidence in such critical moments.
Mohd Salim (CPI-M) said that in the interest of bettering cooperation, it is necessary that dialogues should continue.
“I urge the Home Minister not to depend on information from fake twitter accounts, whether it is in case of JNU or in case of Pathankot…. The bravado which you should have shown in Pathankot, you are showing it in JNU,” Salim said.
Sougata Roy (TMC) said the NDA Government’s “flip-flop” in Pakistan policy is weakening the country’s defence policy and the attack on Pathankot airbase brings into open the weak underbelly and chinks in armour.
He said the Government did not communicate with States when the Pathankot attack happened and failed to win the perception battle as it did not give out correct information.
Chandrakant Khaire (Shiv Sena) said that Pakistan always looks at India as “kafir” and there should be no friendship with the neighbouring nation.
“We will not allow India-Pakistan match to happen. When our Prime Minister made a visit to Pakistan, immediately thereafter, there is terrorist activity. Earlier also this had happened… We should fight Pakistan,” Khaire said.
K Kavitha (TRS) sought to know from Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar whether “security gaps” which came to fore following the Pathankot attack have been filled.
She also sought to know how many meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Security took place after the Pathankot attack and also whether there was any shortfall of personnel in the Intelligence Bureau.
Varaprasad Rao (YSRC) said there was a need for unity in the House and people should refrain from making any provocative statement.
“We should continue with the peace talks” and strengthen internal intelligence, he said.
Dharmendra Yadav (SP) also attacked the Government saying it would have been better if the energy and spirit it spent in dealing with JNU incident, was spent on the international borders.
“Discussions with Pakistan should continue, but along with that we should frame such policies so that the morale of soldiers increases,” he said.
Ashwini Kumar (BJP) suggested that the Government should revoke Article 370 of Indian Constitution.
N K Premchandran (RSP) said that the Pathankot attack revealed the intelligence and communication lapses.
“The BJP Government had earlier said that terror and talks cannot go together. Now what is the current Pakistan policy of the Government,” he said.
Dushyant Chautala (Indian National Lok Dal) said his party would support the Government if it considered revoking Article 370. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel