"I salute Gen (retd) VK Singh," Modi said as he hailed the "unprecedented" rescue mission led by the minister for evacuating Indians out of Yemen. The Prime Minister also heaped praise on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her work.
Modi was critical of the media for ignoring Singh's work at a time when newspapers worldwide highlighted the Indian rescue mission.
"Can you imagine? Bombardment is going on in Yemen 24 hours and everybody is out to kill each other and we, after talking to so many countries, manage to stop this for two hours to evacuate as many Indians as possible. It is not a small incident.
"I believe this is the first time in the world that a government minister has stood on the battlefield like a soldier to do this work... I salute General VK Singh," he said at a meeting of BJP MPs here.
