India exposed Pakistan's 'nuclear bluff': FM Arun Jaitley
New Delhi : India has exposed Pakistan's 'nuclear bluff' with the help of Balakot Air Strikes in the neighbouring country's Balakot on February 26, said the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The statement from the Union Minister was recorded during a TV show - AAP KI ADAALAT - on India TV. "India fought and won conventional wars against Pakistan in 1965, 1971 and during the Kargil conflict. Since then, Pakistan's army has realised that because of our huge economy and superior military strength, conventional wars cannot be won," it quoted him as saying.
Talking about the other options Pakistan could have used in case of war against India, he said, "there were two options - one, fighting a proxy war with the help of terrorists, and two, projecting a nuclear bluff. Since both the countries are armed with nuclear weapons, the nuclear bluff was their second option. But it has been exposed this time," Mr Jaitley said.
According to IANS, the Finance Minister said that India has stopped adopting a defensive posture under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. "Till now, Pakistan's policy was to send terrorists for carrying out attacks while our policy was to be on the defensive. Modiji has brought about a small change in that. While we will continue to defend ourselves, we will also attack the main sources of terrorism. The 2016 surgical strike was our first step, and the latest air strikes were the second," he said at the event, adding that the operations were widely supported across the globe.
India had carried out a terrorist strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps in the Balakot region on February 26, around ten days after 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in a terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.