Directed armed forces to shoot at anyone with machine gun: Parrikar

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said he has directed the armed forces to fire before someone else does.

"My clear directions are if someone comes with machine gun to fire on you then finish him off before he does. Therefore we were able to give befitting response to our enemy. After we came to power, our attention was on making our borders safe," Parrikar said at the BJP's Vijay Sankalp Meet here.

Targeting the Opposition Congress, the Defence Minister further said, "Those speaking about nation's security should realise for 30 years due to corruption you didn't have guts to buy new artillery. After the government came to power, Light M777 howitzer, which is light-weighted and can be used in Arunachal and hilly areas got approved four days ago."

With less than six-months for the state assembly election, Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) formally began its poll campaign from the Vijay Sankalp Rally.

Parrikar had last week also raised questions on India's 'no first use' nuclear policy.

He asked why India cannot say "we are a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly" instead of affirming a "no first use policy", adding that the remarks were personal in nature.