Pakistan still in anaesthesia after surgery, says Manohar Parrikar

Compares Army to Hanuman, adding that they did not quite know their prowess before the surgical strikes

In his first remarks after the cross Line of Control (LoC) anti-terror strike, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday compared Pakistan's condition to an "anaesthetised patient" after a surgery and said like Hanuman Indian Army has recognised its prowess.

"Pakistan's condition after the surgical strikes is like that of an anaesthetised patient after a surgery who doesn't know that the surgery has already been performed on him. Even two days after the surgical strikes, Pakistan has no idea what has happened," Parrikar said.

India loves peace and does not believe in unprovoked aggression but it won't take terror lying down, he said, adding that the strikes were also meant to give a message to Pakistan that Indian troops knew how to retaliate.

Comparing the Army to Hanuman, he made a reference to the Ramayana in which Hanuman crossed an ocean in a single stride after he was reminded about his extraordinary powers by Jamwant.

"Indian troops were like Hanuman who did not quite know their prowess before the surgical strikes," Parrikar said.

Congratulating the troops for the precision and efficacy of the strikes, the Minister said he greeted all its members for their extraordinary feat.

"The surgical strikes gave our forces an idea of what they were capable of doing. Pakistan is bewildered following the strikes, not quite knowing how to react," Parrikar said in his first public reaction after the strikes.

"Indian troops caught Pakistan unawares as our commandos did what they had to without Pakistani authorities getting a wind of it," he said addressing a gathering at Peethsain in Pauri district.

The Defence Minister was addressing the gathering after unveiling a statue of noted freedom fighter from Uttarakhand Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali in his ancestral village Peethsain.

India carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.