CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and state Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu once again crossed swords against each other, this time on the IAF air strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot.
Sidhu today questioned the Modi Government on the air strikes in Pakistan and asked it not to politicise them.
"300 terrorist dead, Yes or No? What was the purpose then? Were you uprooting terrorist or trees? Was it an election gimmick? Deceit possesses our land in guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Stop politicising the army, it is as sacred as the state.” Sidhu said.
The former cricketer-turned-politician was referring to the statement by BJP leader SS Ahluwalia, who said that the strikes were meant to send out a message and not to kill.
In another tweet, he wrote, "Skimmed milk masquerades as cream, things are seldom as they seem."
Meanwhile Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, while refusing to comment on the number of terrorists killed in the strikes, he said," whether it was one killed or 100, the message had gone out loud and clear – that India will not let the killing of its innocent soldiers and citizens go unpunished.”
He said that the IAF air strikes had proven India’s resolve to deal with the problem in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.
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The senior Congress leader also warned that Pakistan would not hesitate to use its nuclear arsenal if it felt it was losing out against India in a conventional war.
Pointing out that both India and Pakistan were nuclear powers, he said it was not in either country’s interest to use the weapons of mass destruction but Islamabad could indulge in such a misadventure if faced with defeat in other form of battles.
Saying that Pakistan was in a huge economic mess and had been going around with a begging bowl and surviving on doles from other Islamic nations, Amarinder said they could ill-afford a full-fledged war with India.
And though both were nuclear-powered countries, Pakistan could act out of desperation to use its nuclear weapons if they found themselves cornered, he warned.