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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meet on the attack at the Indian military base in Uri even as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar admitted that “something” did go wrong on that fateful Sunday morning when a group of terrorists killed 18 soldiers.
Apparently, discussions on the way the attack was planned, Army’s preparedness at that moment and what “strategic approach” India will take in tackling terror emanating from Pakistan also took place at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, sources told BusinessLine .
Sources said India’s Pakistan policy, which will undergo a significant change, will be spelt out by Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj during her speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 26.
She is also going to urge the world at the UN to “isolate” Pakistan for being a “sponsor of terror”, sources said.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said “something” did go wrong on that day when the attacks took place and his ministry will ensure this does not happen again.
“I believe in zero error … But something must have gone wrong. While we are trying to correct it we will also ensure that it does not happen again. We will take steps that nothing goes wrong again and repetitions do not happen,” Parrikar said at an event organised by AIIMA.
Parrikar said while India is a “responsible” country and will take necessary action against the perpetrators of the attacks, he can have a “knee-jerk reaction” on the episode.
“We will take a proper reading of everything. How to punish that is for us to work out,” he added.
In a parallel development, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit at the Ministry of External Affairs where he was informed about the items recovered by India from the slain terrorists that had Pakistani markings.
India had told Pakistan that if it wishes to investigate the cross-border attacks, the government is willing to provide finger prints and DNA samples of terrorists.
Jaishankar told Basit that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains “active” and that the country should live up to its commitment to refrain from “supporting and sponsoring” terrorism against India.
On the other hand, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in for a massive setback as a Bill was moved in the US House of Representatives to designate Pakistan as a state ‘sponsor of terror’.
“Pakistan’s reckless behaviour in this regard is a serious security risk to its neighbours – and India unfortunately pays the price all too often. A threat to democracy in India is a threat to democracy everywhere. And that’s just the way it is,” said US Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non Proliferation and Trade.
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