Parl panel lauds forces, asks for photos of attack
NEWDELHI: Parliament’s panel on foreign affairs on Friday lauded the efforts of the government and armed forces during the recent tension with Pakistan but some members wanted to know why the government has not providing photographic or other evidence of how Indian jets damaged terror infrastructure and wiped out terrorists during a strike inside Pakistan on Tuesday. Members of the panel also suggested foreign secretary Vi jay Gokhale that New Delhi must go all out to explain to the international community the reasons behind India’ s decision to pound the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp inside Pakistan.
According to a few members who spoke on condition of anonymity, Gokhale read out from the same text he readout on Tuesday while briefing reporters, hours after the air strike. When asked about media reports questioning India’ s success in eliminating terrorists and terror infrastructure in the air strike, he chose not to give any detailed reply but said that the defence ministry would be in a better position to explain the issues.
When some members asked why the government had not released photographs of the attack by Indian fighter jets, Gokh ale pointed out it was not in his purview to speak on this specific issue. The briefing included the ME A’ s assessment of the Pakistan prime minister’ s tenure so far, one of the members said.
Gokhale also told the panel that an attempt by the Pakistan Air Force to target military installations in India were thwarted by the IAF, which shot down a Pakistani fighter jet but lost one of its own in the process.