Had Pakistan not returned Abhinandan it would have been ‘qatal ki raat’: PM Modi

On the last day of election campaigning in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said had Pakistan not returned Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman then it would have been a ‘qatal ki raat‘ (night of slaughter).

On the last day of election campaigning in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said had Pakistan not returned Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman then it would have been a ‘qatal ki raat‘ (night of slaughter).

“On the second day, America’s senior official said India would do something big. That Modi was ready with 12 missiles. It would have been a serious situation so it was good that Pakistan announced to return the Indian pilot else it would have been ‘qatal ki raat‘,” PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Patan.

Referring to the Balakot airstrike, Modi said Pakistan attempted to target Indian installations and deployed their aircraft but the IAF was swift to retaliate and destroyed one of their jets.

“After our pilot was caught, Pakistan thought they got something by chance. The Opposition started talking about our pilot’s life. They forgot about this major attack a day before. Many people were even ready to take a candlelight march. We conducted a press conference and warned Pakistan that if anything happened to our pilot, you will keep telling the world that Modi did this to you,” he said. 

Following an air strike by the Indian Air Force at JeM terror camps in Balakot, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft crossed the LoC and launched missiles, which nearly missed Indian military installations on February 27.

In the ensuing aerial combat, an IAF MiG-21 Bison aircraft piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was shot down by PAF while he was trying to intercept the intruding aircraft.

Modi further said the people would not have forgiven him if he had acted the way former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

“What Dr Manmohan Singh government did after the 26/11 attacks, if I would have done the same would you have forgiven me? The entire country was expecting some action and I had said on the first day that I have given full freedom to the country’s defence forces,” he said.

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