In what can be seen as an apparent warning to Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that the government is not denying about surgical strikes to take place in future and that it can be expected in the Pakistan-controlled territory. While giving an interview to News 18, Home Minister told, “Pakistan is our neighbour. If it changes for good, we may not need such a step again. But if terror organisations or others target India, we can’t guarantee that surgical strike will not be repeated,”.
Last year, in the aftermath of Uri terror attack that killed 18 Indian soldiers, Indian army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC in order to target terrorists, that killed unknown number of terrorists and some Pakistani soldiers. A surgical strike is a military attack which is taken out with the intent to damage a particular target while trying not to damage the nearby or surrounding areas.
On the recent house arrest of Hafiz Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Rajnath said the incident was nothing but a mere eye wash and if Pakistan was serious about solving the issue of terrorism in the country then it would have taken the legal route and have put Hafiz in the jail.
As the UP elections are round the corner, Singh also spoke at length about it. He said, “I am already the home minister, it would be injustice if others are not given a chance”, when asked if he will be the Chief Minister if BJP comes to power in the state. He also seemed positive about the number of seats his party is going to get in the elections and said that the BJP will get more than 250 out of 403 seats in the UP elections.
