NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday latched on to former Union minister P Chidambram’s remarks on the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, and demanded that the Congress should answer why the UPA government prevented the Army from attacking Pakistan after the deadly incident.“Recently, a senior Congress leader and former Home Minister has revealed that after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, our security forces were ready to attack Pakistan, but due to pressure from another country, the Congress government at the time stopped our security forces,” the Prime Minister said after inaugurating Navi Mumbai International Airport.“Congress needs to tell who made the decision under pressure from a foreign power. The country has all right to know. Congress’s weakness strengthened the terrorists. The country repeatedly has had to pay for this mistake by sacrificing lives. For us, nothing is more important than national security and the safety of our citizens,” he added.This comes days after former Union home minister P Chidambaram, in an interview, recounted that he was inclined towards retaliatory action against Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks but was ultimately persuaded against it.Chidambaram had said that the decision making process of Manmohan Singh-led government’s stance was shaped by international diplomatic pressure , particularly from the United States.“It did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution. I did discuss it with the Prime Minister and other people who mattered. The PM had discussed this matter when the attack was going on, I can surmise. And the conclusion was largely influenced by the MEA and the IFS that we should not physically react to the situation, but we should employ diplomatic means,” he said.“The conclusion was reached amid pressure from the world that was descending upon Delhi to tell us that don’t start a war,” he said. He specifically mentioned that then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had travelled to New Delhi to meet him and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging India not to retaliate militarily.
