Chidambaram calls PM Modi's 26/11 remarks 'wrong and imaginative'
Citing a media report quoting PM Modi, Chidambaram said all the assertions made by the Prime Minister about him were 'terribly wrong'
Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram has responded sharply after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the UPA government refrained from attacking Pakistan following the 26/11 terror attacks in 2008 "due to pressure from another country".
Describing the Prime Minister’s remarks as highly "imaginative", Chidambaram posted on X, "It is disappointing to read that the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India imagined the words and attributed them to me."
Also Read: Chidambaram says military retaliation after 26/11 dropped due to US pressure; BJP reacts
Chidambaram reacts sharply
Citing a media report quoting PM Modi, Chidambaram said all the assertions made by the Prime Minister about him were "terribly wrong".
Countering PM Modi’s remarks, Chidambaram said in a post on X, "I quote the Hon'ble PM's words (as reported in ToI): '.....has said India was ready to respond after 26/11, but because of the pressure exerted by some country, then Congress government stopped India's armed forces from attacking Pakistan."
"The statement has three parts, and each one of them is wrong, terribly wrong. It is disappointing to read that the Honourable Prime Minister of India imagined the words and attributed them to me," the former Home Minister reiterated.
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Modi criticises UPA govt over 26/11
During the inauguration of the Navi Mumbai International Airport on Wednesday (October 8), the Prime Minister described Mumbai as one of India’s most vibrant cities.
Referring indirectly to Chidambaram, Modi said that while Mumbai, the country’s economic capital, was targeted in 2008, the Congress-led UPA government "sent a message of weakness and surrender to terrorism".
"Recently, a senior Congress leader who also served as India’s Home Minister claimed that India’s armed forces were ready to attack Pakistan after 26/11. The country too wanted this, but if the Congress leader is to be believed, the government stopped the security forces from attacking Pakistan because of pressure from another country," the PM said.
"Congress will have to answer who took this decision under international pressure. The party’s weakness emboldened terrorists and weakened India’s security, and India has repeatedly paid the price for this in the form of lives lost," he added.
Also Read: PM Modi attacks Congress over no military response after 26/11
Global pressure shaped response
In a recent interview, Chidambaram had stated that after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, he was inclined towards retaliating against Pakistan but the government decided to exercise restraint amid global pressure not to start a war.
He said that then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had travelled to New Delhi to meet him and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and advised against military action.
"The thought of retaliation did cross my mind after the 26/11 attacks,” Chidambaram said. “I discussed it with the Prime Minister and other people who mattered."
"The Prime Minister discussed the matter even as the attacks were unfolding. And the conclusion was largely influenced by the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and the IFS (Indian Foreign Service) that we should not physically react to the situation, but we should employ diplomatic means," he stated.