Panaji: Former Union defence minister and Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar said on Friday that the defence ministry was in shambles when he took over its reins in November 2014. “When I was the defence minister, and I can tell you this, when I took over, the defence ministry was in pure shambles, total…. There was total chaos,” Parrikar said.
He also recalled the planning that led to the execution of two surgical strikes across the India-Myanmar border and the Indo-Pak border. Parrikar said when he learned of the attack on 6 Dogra Regiment in Manipur and the death of 18 Army soldiers, he felt personally “insulted”.
“A small terrorist organisation like NSCN-K (National Socialist Council of Nagaland) killing so many Indian Army soldiers was definitely an insult to me,” Parrikar said.
While details remain shrouded in secrecy, it is known that the Army conducted a surgical strike on terrorist camps beyond the Indo-Myanmar border. “Now the news leaked, but we didn’t leak it. But one question hurt me. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, being an ex-Army man, was explaining about such operations and one of the news anchor asked him: Would you have the courage and capability of doing the same on the western front?” Parrikar said in his address during an event. “After a successful surgical strike, this was another insult to me, which I listened to very intensely but decided to answer when the time comes,” he said.
“We started preparations for the September 29 (2016) surgical strike on June 9, exactly 15 months prior to the event. We started planning for any eventuality at least 15 months in advance,” Parrikar said.
