Chennai: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Tuesday that the Balakot airstrike, where the IAF targeted and destroyed a JeM camp in Pakistan last week, was ‘not a military action’ as there was no damage to civilians.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had not given any casualty figure in the airstrike and he had only given a statement, which was the government’s ‘position’, Sitharaman told reporters here.
Gokhale had last Tuesday said the non-military and pre-emptive strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) training camp in Balakot had killed ‘very large number’ of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.
Sitharaman’s remarks come amidst the opposition parties including the Congress seeking details of the death toll in the airstrike, even as the IAF, which carried out the attacks post the Pulwama suicide bombing, said Monday the Centre would provide details on the casualty figures.
The defence minister also declined to link the airstrike with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile in another development, the BJP accused Tuesday the Congress of ‘lowering the morale and prestige’ of the forces by seeking evidence of the airstrike carried out by the IAF on the JeM camp at Balakot.
Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that senior Congress leaders were speaking in the ‘language of Pakistan’.
“They are not speaking in isolation. They have the blessings of (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi and (UPA chairperson) Sonia Gandhi,” Prasad said in New Delhi, naming senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Digvijaya Singh. By seeking proof, he said, the Congress was ‘lowering the morals and prestige’ of the security forces.
Prasad also attacked West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee. “Mamata ji, you have seen struggle. What is wrong with you,” he asked.
PTI