Surgical strike: Government briefs political leaders on Army's action

New Delhi: Top leaders of political parties were today briefed by the government about the surgical strike carried out by the Army on terror launching pads across the LoC to foil plans of terrorists to target some Indian towns. Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said after the hour-long meeting that all political parties unanimously supported the Army action, which was carried at 5-6 important places across LoC along Kupwara and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of 6,000 feet and some of these terror launch pads were destroyed. "The Home Minister explained the all-party meeting about the surgical strike which was carried out by the Army to foil attempts by terrorists to carry out attack not only in Jammu and Kashmir but some other important towns," he told reporters. The Army action came in the aftermath of terror attack in Uri on September 18 in which 18 soldiers were killed. Naidu said the terrorists had carried out strike from these launching pads and they had plans to do the same in future too. "Government and the Army had reports that the terrorists had plans to infiltrate again and create havoc in Jammu and Kashmir and some other places," he said. After the successful operation, the Army personnel had returned to their respective bases without suffering any casualty, he said adding further details would be available later. The Minister said Representatives of Congress, NCP, CPI(M), BSP, Shiv Sena, LJSP AND TDP complimented the Indian Army action and assured the government of their support in any action in future. Those who attended the meeting include Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP) and Ram Vilas Paswan (LJSP). BJP President Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar besides the Home Minister and Naidu attended the meeting. Naidu said the surgical strike was carried out as Pakistan was not mending its ways and testing India's patience. Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh briefed the all-party meeting.