PM Modi targets Congress over 26/11 response, says party 'kneeled before terrorism'

Speaking at the inauguration of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, PM Modi referred to recent remarks by senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had said that while he was inclined to strike back after the 2008 attacks, the then UPA government decided against military action following global pressure, particularly from the United States.

“A senior Congress leader, who also served as India’s Home Minister, claimed recently that our armed forces were ready to attack Pakistan after 26/11. The country wanted the same thing. But if what he says is true, the Congress government stopped the forces from acting because of pressure from another country,” PM Modi said.

“Congress will have to answer who took this decision under international pressure. Their weakness emboldened terrorists and weakened India’s security, and the country has paid the price for it repeatedly in the form of lives lost,” he added.

Without naming Chidambaram directly, the Prime Minister said the then Congress-led government had “given a message of weakness” and “kneeling before terrorism” when Mumbai was attacked in 2008.

In contrast, PM Modi stated that his government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. “This is a new India that gives a fitting response, that attacks Pakistan on its own soil (ghar mein ghuske maarta hai).”

Citing Operation Sindoor, India’s recent response to the April terror attack in Pahalgam, PM Modi said that India had targeted major terror infrastructures across the border, including the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke and Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur.

“The world has understood this new resolve of India,” he said, adding that the government prioritises national security and the safety of its citizens above all else.

In his recent interview, Chidambaram revealed that then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited New Delhi to meet him and then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging India to show restraint to prevent an escalation with Pakistan.

The 26/11 attacks, one of India’s deadliest terror incidents, killed 166 people, including foreign nationals, and left hundreds injured when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists carried out coordinated shootings and bombings across Mumbai over three days in November 2008.