Former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has revealed that the then UPA government decided not to retaliate against Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks due to intense international pressure, as well as the External Affairs Ministry’s stance. The veteran Congress leader admitted that “retribution crossed my mind” but the government decided against military action.
His remarks have drawn sharp criticism from BJP leaders, who called the admission “too little, too late”.
During an interview with a news channel, Chidambaram, who took over as the Union Home Minister just days after the coordinated terror attacks that claimed the lives of 175 people, said, “The whole world descended upon Delhi to tell us ‘don’t start a war
“Condoleeza Rice, who was then US Secretary of State, flew in two or three days after I took over, to meet me and the Prime Minister. And to say, ‘please don’t react’. I said this is a decision that the government will take. Without disclosing any official secret, it did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution,” he acknowledged.
Chidambaram went on to say that he discussed a possible retaliation with the Prime Minister and “other people who mattered.”
“The Prime Minister had discussed this even when the attack was going on… And the conclusion was, largely influenced by the the Ministry of External Affairs, and the IFS, that we should not physically react to the situation,” he recalled.
