New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Setting aside political differences, most opposition political parties, including the Congress and the Left, on Thursday backed the Narendra Modi government on the 'surgical strikes' across the Line of Control (LoC).
The Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Nationalist Congress Party were among the parties that supported the government.
At an all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, top opposition leaders were briefed by him and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on the four-hour operation carried out beginning around midnight on Wednesday till early Thursday.
The Home Minister shared the government's actions on "internal security" in key states like Punjab, and also that the government was keeping track of possible Pakistan reactions, official sources said after the meeting.
All political parties unanimously supported the army action, Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said.
Earlier in the day, immediately after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Director General of Military Operations, in the presence of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the announcement on the strikes.
The Home Minister also informed the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Odisha, Punjab, Bihar and other states about the strikes while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met ailing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and briefed her.
Gandhi later issued a statement hailing the operation.
India's DGMO Lt. General Ranbir Singh told the meeting that seven terror launch pads were targeted across the LoC at a height of about 6,000 feet across the LoC along Kupwara and Poonch sectors by the Special Forces commandos.
"We are proud of the Indian Army. Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India. It was a good operation and there will not be any diplomatic ramifications of the actions of the Indian Army," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters here.
At the meeting, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, also a former Defence Minister, made a special mention of the role of the army and the meticulous operation it carried out.
Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav said the army's action in difficult terrains showed their determination.
In a rather guarded statement later, the Communist Party of India-Marxist Central Committee said the party "expects that there is no further escalation of hostilities henceforth".
"The CPI(M) has all along maintained that the safety and security of our people from cross-border terrorism must be ensured. We urge the government of India to continue with the diplomatic and political moves to defuse tensions," it said.
Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ram Vilas Paswan also attended the meeting.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, who was also present at the all-party meeting, said: "Today's strikes signal the rise of a new India where the government did not get cowed down by the nefarious designs of terrorists."
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