Himachal CM justifies army's surgical strikes

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday justified the Indian Army's surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir by saying no country will tolerate unnecessary killings of her innocent people.

"The surgical attacks on terrorist camps by the Indian Army are a right step at the right moment. No country would tolerate attacks and unnecessary killings of her innocent people from foreign soil," he told reporters here.

The Chief Minister said "he believes that there are many in Pakistan who want peace and never want war between the two countries".

"All the people in Pakistan are not of the same ideology and they want harmony," he said.

"The attacks were on terrorist launch pads and the denial by Pakistan authorities on the issue reflects that they want to hide from the world that the terrorists killed were given training and sheltered by them," he added.

The Indian Army carried out surgical strikes in the early hours of September 29 across the Line of Control on terror launch pads inflicting "significant casualties", according to Indian Director General Military Operations Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh.

This action came after the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an Indian Army garrison at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 19 soldiers.

--IANS

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