IAF air strike in Balakot was non-military action: Sitharaman

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Mar 5 (ANI): Calling it a "non-military action", Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday justified that the air strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Pakistan was based on intelligence inputs on terrorist activities in the neighbouring country to be unleashed against India.
Denying the Opposition's allegations of carrying out the air strike by IAF on Pakistan ahead of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Sitharaman told media here, "There is no relationship between the air strike and elections. It was based upon intelligence inputs on terrorist activities in Pakistan, to be unleashed against India. It was not military action."
The Defence Minister's reaction came after Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee raised questions over the air strike and its impact following reports by a section of the foreign media raising doubts over the air strike.
Senior Congress leaders like Kapil Sibal and Digvijaya Singh have also asked for details while Mamata Banerjee had said that the nation has a "right to know" what happened after the IAF's air strike.
A day after India carried out air strike on a JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26, Jammu and Kashmir saw heightened military activity on February 27, with Pakistani jets violating the Indian air space and dropping some bombs in the Rajouri sector after which one of their fighters was shot down.
On the same day, India also claimed it foiled an attempt by Pakistan Air Force to carry out strikes in Jammu and Kashmir by shooting down an F-16 fighter plane. (ANI)