Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that he notified Pakistan about the 2019 Balakot air strikes before revealing them to the public.
Speaking at a vote rally in Karnataka’s Bagalkot, he stated, “Modi does not believe in attacking from behind and fights openly face to face.”
The Prime Minister remarked, “I had requested the military to call the media and notify them, but I had previously stated that I would inform Pakistan by telephone about airstrikes at night and the devastation inflicted, but Pakistanis would not answer the phone. So I urged the soldiers to wait, and after telling them, we subsequently told the public about the airstrikes that occurred throughout the night.
PM Modi went on to say, “Modi doesn’t hide things nor attacks from hiding, and does things openly.”
He also cautioned anyone who attempted to harm innocent people in the country, saying, “This is Naya Bharat (New India).” Ghar me ghuskar ke maarega (would slay inside the enemy’s land).
He further said that when India initiated air attacks in Pakistan, many people mistook it for Bagalkot, a district in Karnataka with a similar name.
“We then held a press conference and disclosed information about it and the destruction caused to the enemies, after the strikes,” he said to the media.
On February 26, 2019, Indian aeroplanes bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training centre in Balakot in retaliation to the Pulwama terror assault.
Following the Balakot attacks, India claimed that a “very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders, and groups of jihadis” were killed in the nighttime operation.
According to an official statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, they were being trained for “fidayeen” action at a facility in Balakot led by Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri, the brother-in-law of JeM commander Masood Azhar.
“Credible intelligence was acquired that the JeM was planning another suicide terror strike in several regions of the nation, and the fidayeen jihadis were being groomed for the task. In the face of impending threat, a preemptive attack became unavoidable,” the statement continued.
“This non-military preventive strike was primarily intended for the JeM camp. Our goal to avoid civilian casualties influenced the target selection process. “The facility is located in a dense forest on a hilltop, far from any civilian presence,” the statement stated.z
