'India will not tolerate terrorists creating havoc at borders'

On the eve of the second anniversary of the 2016 surgical strike, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted that India will not tolerate terrorists entering and creating havoc at the borders.

"On that day (surgical strike), Indian armed forces proved to the world that there is a very clear way in which we will show our strength to say that we shall not tolerate terrorists coming in the garb of intruders and creating havoc at our borders, at least hoping to create," she said at Parakram Parv, an army exhibition organised to commemorate the second anniversary of surgical strikes.

"We showed for the cowardly act of killing soldiers who were remaining in their basis. India shall not sit and watch the whole thing. It is all out in the open now. All the terrorist pads were cleared off and all those who were wanting to spread terror have been adequately punished," she added.

Sitharaman said the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself are committed to keeping the morale of the armed forces up at all times.

"Two years of surgical strike, we are celebrating it because we want to tell the people of India the kind of sacrifice and valour which the Indian Army shows. In the surgical strike, we have actually hit back at an enemy who was coward," she said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated three-day army exhibition, Parakram Parv, to mark the second anniversary of surgical strikes, which were carried out against terror camps across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The three-day event, organised by Konark Corps, is aimed at showcasing the might of the Indian Army and its contribution in nation building. Parakram Parv will be celebrated till September 30.

A fresh video of the surgical strike of 2016 across the Line of Control (LoC) was released yesterday.

According to government sources, the video showed terror launch pads being bombarded and destroyed by Indian soldiers.

It was on September 18, 2016, when four Pakistani terrorists attacked the Indian Army at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers.

Avenging the attack, on September 29, the Indian Army conducted a surgical strike across LoC in PoK and destroyed terrorist launch pads completely, killing many terrorists.

Earlier this week, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had asserted that another surgical strike should be conducted on terror launch pads across the LoC.