New Delhi: Prime Minister Modi on Monday in a Karnataka rally informed that he first tried to contact Pakistan on developments related to airstrike in Balakot in 2019 before making it a public information. He was addressing a public meeting in Bagalkot and said that he does not believe in attacking from the back, instead he fights openly ‘face to face’. 


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The PM said, “I had instructed the forces to notify the media about the 2019 Balakot airstrike. However, I had previously stated that I would inform Pakistan via telephone about the airstrikes conducted at night and the resultant damage. Unfortunately, Pakistani officials did not respond to our attempts to contact them. After which I directed the forces to hold off, and once we informed them, we revealed the airstrikes to the world, which had occurred overnight.”  


He pointed out that he didn't conceal any details regarding the air strikes, instead, he shared information about them, and the damage inflicted upon the enemies following the strikes. 


He also warned those who try to hurt the innocent people of the country. He said that this is new India that believes in killing enemies in their own territory ‘(ghar me ghuskar ke maarega)’. 


During the rally PM mentioned that after India's air strikes in Pakistan, there was initial confusion among many who thought it was carried out in Bagalkot, a district in Karnataka with a similar-sounding name. However, he explained that a press conference was organised afterward to clear up any confusion and provide details about the strikes and the damage inflicted upon the enemies. 



India's fighter jets launched an airstrike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot on February 26, 2019, in retaliation for the Pulwama terror attack. The Pulwama attack happened on February 14, 2019, when a group of vehicles carrying Indian security forces on a highway in Jammu and Kashmir of the district was attacked by a suicide bomber driving a vehicle loaded with explosives.