‘Serious about punishing attackers’

Empty vessel makes more noise: Defence Minister on Pakistan

URI ATTACK

DEFENCE MINISTER Manohar Parrikar Wednesday said the government is “serious” about punishing those responsible for the Uri attack and that it will “not sleep over” terror that is being “pushed into India” from across the border.

On reports about Pakistan’s threat to use tactical nukes, he said “empty vessel makes more noise” and asserted that steps will be taken to ensure that incidents like the Uri strike do not recur.

“We take proper reading of everything and I don’t think Prime Minister’s initial words that ‘those responsible will be punished’, will go as a mere statement. How to punish, that is for us to work out. We are quite serious about it,” Parrikar said.

He was responding to questions about what India’s response to the attack will be.

To a question on reports about Pakistan’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons, Parrikar said: “Empty vessel makes more noise. This country is a very responsible power, but that does not mean I will sleep over this kind of terrorism that is being pushed from across. How I do it is entirely for the government, under the Prime Minister, to decide,” he said.

He added: “When something goes wrong, while you try to correct it, you should also ensure that it does not happen again. We will definitely find out what went wrong and also take steps to ensure it does not go wrong again.”

PTI Security personnel during an operation in Uri sector in Kashmir, on Wednesday. The counter-infiltration operations along the Line of Control in Kashmir entered the second day on Wednesday even as the Army conducted a search operation to recover bodies...