Indian armed forces ready for counter attack, says Sitharaman

Bengaluru, Feb 19 (IANS) The Indian armed forces were ready to counter-attack as their morale was high despite the terror blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14, said Defence Minister Niramala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

"The response of all Indians to the terror attack in Pulwama has made our armed forces assert they were ready to retaliate against the enemy squarely," Sitharaman told IANS here.

Clarifying that the terror attack on the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) troops, in which 40 of them died had not affected the armed forces in any way, the Minister said they (jawans) were ready to do their job.

"The terror attack has not affected their morale at all. It is our duty to make their morale remain high. We are here to stand by them," said Sitharaman at a press meet ahead of the biennial Aero India air show in this aerospace hub from Wednesday.

Noting that she would respond to the Pulwama attack after getting more information on it, the Minister said though India sent evidence to Pakistan on terror attacks in the country since terrorists from its side came to Mumbai on November 26, 2008, its government did not take any action against them.

"Since the Mumbai attack on November 26 2008, the previous (UPA) government had sent evidence to Pakistan, which did not take any action. Even our (NDA) government sent evidence of involvement of non-state actors but no action has been taken so far," Sitharaman said.