The opposition extended its complete support to the government at the all-party meeting convened by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday evening.
At the meeting held in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, Swaraj informed the leaders that she spoke to US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo over the air strikes.
“I am happy that all parties in one voice praised the IAF and supported the government’s anti-terror operations,” she said after the conclusion of the meeting.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said that all parties appreciated the pre-dawn, pre-emptive air strikes on Pakistan’s Balakot to take out the largest training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
“We have appreciated the efforts by the forces. They always have our support to end terrorism. Another good thing is that it was a clean operation which specifically targeted terrorists and terror camps,” Azad said.
The meeting was also attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel and representatives of major political parties.
Cutting across political lines, the top leadership of parties had earlier today praised the strikes that killed 300 terrorists in the town located in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Addressing the media today, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said India had received credible information on JeM attempting other attacks in the country and therefore a pre-emptive strike had become necessary.
“Credible intelligence was received that Jaish-e-Mohammed was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country and fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose,” he said.
He added that the non-military pre-emptive action was targeted specifically at the JeM camp adding that the selection of the target was also conditioned to avoid civilian casualties.
Reacting to the strikes, a rattled Prime Minister Imran Khan directed Pakistan’s armed forces and citizens to “remain prepared for all eventualities”.
Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) said on Tuesday that it will respond “at a time and place of its choosing” to the air strikes.
Read More: Islamabad says will respond to air strike on Pakistan at ‘time, place of its choosing’
The Pakistan government said that it will take domestic and international media to the site of the air strikes for them to “see the facts on the ground”.
“Forum concluded that India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing,” the NSC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Maja Kocijancic, European Union Spokesperson, urged the India and Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint.
“We’re following very closely the current developments between India and Pakistan. We remain in contact with both countries and what we believe is essential, is that all exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation of tensions,” she said.