Parrikar denies Congress claims of earlier surgical strikes

On the decision of conducting surgical strikes, Parrikar gave credit to 1.27 billion citizens and Indian armed forces

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday denied claims of Congress leaders and defence analysts that India had carried out surgical strikes  earlier, too.

“I have been the defence minister for two years now and I have learned that no surgical strikes have been carried out earlier. Probably they are referring to the actions taken by border action teams, especially those taken by the local commander against opponents to settle scores. These actions are not officially approved by the government so these are without the knowledge of anyone. Reports of such actions are received by the government later,” he noted.

Parrikar, however, said in the case of the surgical strike of September 28 and 29, the government decision was conveyed and the army completed it successfully. “Its outcome was announced by the army itself and not by me as the defence minister. It was single, one-time operation.”

At an interactive session organised by the Forum for Integrated National Security, Parrikar said 1.27 billion people in the country and the Indian armed forces deserved credit. He asked critics and political parties not to politicise the issue. “I could hardly sleep until the news came that everybody was safe and the operation was successful. That was the most tiring and tense day for all of us.”

He said the “major share” of credit should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government for decision-making and planning. He explained that India tried to patch up with Pakistan and Modi did his best to have good relations. “However, our extending a hand of friendship was construed as a weakness by some and they needed to be told firmly that India will not tolerate this anymore. The surgical strike has changed the mind set of the nation and our opponent. Their worry is there is no predictability here. Pakistan had predicted India's predictability,” he said.

On India's preparedness in defence and security, Parrikar said decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government have made the borders more secured. “We have managed to fill many of the gaps. The situation is several times better now than what was present in 2013. Defence acquisition had come an halt but after the Modi government took over, we signed contracts worth Rs 2.50 lakh crore. Before this government completes three years, the contracts will exceed Rs 3 lakh crore,” he said.

Parrikar said during his two-year tenure as defence minister, his biggest challenge was how to handle old scams. “Some old scams come into picture, some companies were blacklisted. I can’t buy a gun required for a naval ship as the main company or the smaller companies have been blacklisted. Globally, there are only 10 or 12 arms suppliers. It becomes impossible to buy defence products under such conditions. The challenge is to complete old acquisitions pending for long.” Efforts were on to reduce hurdles and shorten acquisition time, he said.

On the demand to review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts, Parrikar said the Act gave special powers to the armed forces; otherwise the forces do not have policing powers.

“Show me a single case of human right violation during my tenure. Is there any allegation on the armed forces? Whenever there were some errors of judgement we have conducted inquiries. Instructions are very clear: Do not touch the civil population but if anyone come with a gun, do not think that he is a civilian. He has to be treated as a terrorist.”