Army gave befitting reply to LoC misadventures: Parrikar

Indian armed forces have responded appropriately to acts of aggression from across the border, whether it is firing across the LoC or mutilation of a soldier's body, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Sunday.

Parrikar also said that the armed forces were able to respond with such gusto only because the National Democratic Alliance government allowed them the freedom to respond appropriately.

"For the last two years, all I did was, I told our armed forces that if someone attacks you, you are free to reply appropriately.

"Look at the result of this one decision. Whenever we were attacked, our brave soldiers replied appropriately, be it surgical strikes, Line of Control (LoC) firing, or jawan's mutilated body," Parrikar told a poll rally in South Goa's Sanvordem constituency.

"The Indian Army gave such a powerful response that in the end, they asked us to maintain peace. For the last four days, there has been no firing on the border," he said.

Parrikar said that when he took over as Defence Minister, he had to start from scratch and that he was actually nervous when he assumed charge in 2014.

"When I first went to the Defence Ministry with your blessings, I did not know anything. My hands and feet shivered... In reality I did not even know the ranks in military. I had no experience of this in Goa," Parrikar said, adding that he did not know what war really was and what needed to be done to prepare for one.

"I realised that all weapons stocks were empty, ammunition was empty and the government had tied the hands of the armed forces... so we took the measures required," he added.

--IANS

maya/nir/dg