Opposition, Centre on same page
Congress, SP, NCP say through surgical strikes a strong message has been sent to Pakistan
Setting aside their differences, political leaders cutting across party lines Thursday hailed the antiterror surgical strikes carried out by the Army along the Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday.
Congratulating the Army, Congress’ communications in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Our party wholeheartedly supports the surgical strike on terror launch pads in PoK by the Indian Army.”
Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in a statement that a “strong message” has been sent to Pakistan by these strikes, adding that Pakistan bears a “great responsibility” in the continuing cross-border attacks while offering her party’s support to the government in the battle against terror.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar praised the forces as did Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, however, expressed concern over the escalation of situation along the borders and warned that confrontation could ultimately lead to “disaster of epic proportions” for the state. Ms Mufti was of the opinion that “channels of communication” should remain open between India and Pakistan.
“For the people of Jammu and Kashmir, peace along the borders and within the mainland is of immense significance and I hope the political leadership of the two countries would also treat it with the same spirit,” she said. Earlier, the central government had reached out to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and briefed him about the strikes.
Even external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj met Sonia Gandhi and briefed her on the developments.
A high-level meeting at Sonia’s residence was attended by Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and her political secretary Ahmed Patel.
The surgical strikes by the Army across the Line of Control were a “necessary step” which had not been taken for many years, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said.