Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly told his ministers in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to stop "chest thumping" over the Indian Army's surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC). According to multiple reports, he is concerned that this would lead to "unnecessary political escalation" within the country of the counter-terrorism move.
Members of the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party were told a day after the surgical strikes to avoid any unnecessary show of bravado over the army action, unnamed party sources told The Times of India. Comments made by defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who likened the Pakistani army to a patient yet under the effects of anaesthesia, were not in line with the party stance, according to the report.
PM Modi is also reportedly concerned that these statements are inappropriate at a time when there is a very real threat of a Pakistani retaliation, as well intelligence input of several militants ready to cross the border from Pakistan to India, reported The Telegraph.
The central government had, in fact, reportedly wanted to keep its role in the background and let the Indian Army take centre stage on its counter-terrorism operation, but the message had perhaps not trickled down to the rest of its party and rank.
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