Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Pulwama attack would not have happened if a strong reply was given after the Mumbai attack in November 2008.
He also noted that the aerial strike on a militant camp inBalakot was successful with Pakistan not allowing the media to visit the sitefor over 40 days.
The Prime Minister NarendraModi told Times Now in aninterview that “no patriotic Indian could afford to sit back after the February14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.”
“If we remain silent at a time like this, then theperpetrators will get into the habit of thinking that the government is notstrong and they can get away. If action had been taken after the 26/11 Mumbaiattacks, Pulwama would not have happened,” he said.
The PM Modi said that no major terror incident has happenedin the US after the 9/11 attack as their government showed strength.”Whenever such incidents happened in the past in India, even when thePandits were driven out of the Kashmir, if strong steps had been taken at thattime then we would not have faced 40 years of terrorism and lost thousands ofsoldiers. But at that time politics got in the way, vote banks got in theway,” the PM Modi said.
Asked about people who link Balakot strikes with elections,Modi said it is a reflection of their thinking.
“They have never thought there is something callednational policy which is much bigger than politics. This is beyond theirunderstanding. I find it very painful to even descend into this kind ofargument.”
He said the sacrifice of 40 CRPF men meant a new warningbell of danger.
“This had to be answered. I had decided after the Uriattack that now the time had come to carry out action where the terrorists getshelter and weapons and where they get their training. That is why on the veryfirst day (after Pulwama attack) I gave a free hand to the Army,” thePrime Minister said.
He said the Balakot strikes were carried out very carefullyand it was a successful operation. “It boosted the morale of our armedforces. Now the terrorists will have to think 50 times before doinganything”.
Answering a query on ‘strategic restraint’, Modi said it means hiding shortcomings and the world respects the powerful. Asked about suspicions about success of air strikes, Modi said it was Pakistan which announced that aerial strikes had taken place.
“If nothing had happened, why would they announce? Secondly, after the Uri surgical strike, Pakistan showed the media that nothing had happened within 24 hours, because in a radius of 250 km, any corner can be shown. It was easy. Why did Pakistan not let media visit the Balakot airstrike site for 43 days? Even today, ordinary citizens are not permitted to go there. Why is that?”
He said statements from Pakistan say they want to have talks but referred to its contradictory claims after the air strikes. “Why should we trust Pakistan?” he asked.