Never claimed political ownership of surgical strikes, says Congress

Surgical strikes also happened in 2008, 2009 and 2011, but the then govt let the army take decisions on such strikes

The army carried out surgical strikes on terror camps across the Line of Control (LOC) even under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government but the Congress had never claimed political ownership of these operations, said the party on Monday.

Last Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government claimed it had ordered “surgical strikes” in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), in which several alleged terrorists were killed.

Responding to it, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma on Monday said, “Surgical strikes across LoC also happened in 2008, 2009 and 2011 but the government then chose not to claim political ownership for the actions.”

He added, “It was a different government and a different ruling party. The government let the army take decisions on surgical strikes.”

Sharma said he hoped the government would have done a proper analysis.

The Congress spokesperson also said though Pakistan had been exposed after repeated terror attacks against Indian army bases, it was not isolated. He spoke of the joint exercises by the Pakistani and Russian armies the joint naval exercise between Pakistan and Iran.

“The Centre must do everything possible to nail Pakistan’s negative propaganda as the terror infrastructure across the border is still functional,” he said.

Sharma also praised the government’s move to isolate Pakistan within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). “That’s commendable,” he said.  

He, however, criticised those who had asked Pakistani artistes living in India to return to their own countries. “Citizens are not the same as terrorists,” he said, adding that the escalated tension at the border had vitiated the atmosphere.