Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 17: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is perhaps the only Minister in the Narendra Modi Government who talks tough when it comes to Pakistan and his stand has been consistent ever since he took over the responsibility of the country's defence. He doesn't mince words and he uses all the available fora to send tough and clear message to the belligerent Pakistan.
The other day, Parrikar took a very strong line against Pakistan and that too on the eve of talks between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Mian Nawaz Sharif's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz in Nepal on Thursday on the sidelines of the SAARC Ministerial meet.
Sending out a very strong message to Islamabad, Parrikar said it wanted good relations but not at the cost of the nation's "pride, dignity and self-respect" and that he will ensure that "our enemies" (Pak-sponsored terrorists) couldn't go scot-free as even small incidents of terrorism had to be "treated as war".
Underline his statement that he will ensure that "our enemies" (Pak-sponsored terrorists) couldn't go scot-free as even small incidents of terrorism had to be "treated as war". Had any Indian leader in the past made any such statement and that too when there were definite reports that the Indian Foreign Minister would be outside India to attend the SAARC meet and would also meet a Pakistani, who deals with his country's foreign policy. Only he could do it and, hence, he deserves kudos.
Remember, Parrikar made this very important statement on the floor of the Lok Sabha while responding to a debate during which the Government came in for a scathing attack over handling of the Pathankot attack, with the opposition dubbing as a "critical mistake" the decision to handover the operation to NSG.
Earlier on March 1, Parrikar had told Rajya Sabha that non-State actors from Pakistan were involved in the January 2 Pathankot airbase attack but they couldn't function smoothly without support from the State. "All details will come out in NIA investigation. In this, non-State actors from Pakistan are certainly involved, that is sure... And any non-State (actor), they can't function smoothly without State support," Parrikar had said, adding that "We have now done security audit in addition to normal security and we are in process of ensuring all installations are properly secured".
Indeed, Parrikar a face in the crowd. India needs more Parrikars, as it is passing through a very critical phase with even parties like the Congress making common cause with anti-nationals, be they in Jawaharlal Nehru University or elsewhere, including Kashmir. |
