E-Paper
Post Pulwama, I advised government to give Armed forces free hand, says Sharad Pawar
The remarks came against the backdrop of the Modi government claiming credit for the air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force at Balakot in response to a terror attack on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 personnel.
Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, on Sunday, claimed it was he who advised the Narendra Modi-government to give a free hand to the Indian armed forces to carry out a strike in Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack on February 14, 2019.
While speaking at Chakan as part of a public rally to campaign for party candidate Amol Kolhe from Shirur, Pawar, said, “During the all-party meeting, I was asked what steps we should take since I had served as the defence minister. I told them to give a free hand to the Air Force, Navy and Army to destroy terror camps in Pakistan. Give them complete freedom of choosing the time and specific targets.”
The remarks came against the backdrop of the Modi government claiming credit for the air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force at Balakot in response to a terror attack on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 personnel.
Pawar also accused Prime Minister Modi of not attending a meeting of political parties convened by the government after the terror attack and instead addressing a rally in Maharashtra. “Neither the Prime Minister nor the defence minister were present for the meeting after the Pulwama attack. We got to know that he (PM) was in Maharashtra and campaigning for his party’s candidates,” said Pawar.
