India must be prepared for chemical, biological warfare: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

File photo

New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said India must be well-prepared to deal with chemical and biological warfare in the wake of changing threat perception and security concerns.

Referring to reports of use of chemical weapons in recent terror attacks in Afghanistan, he said India should have an effective system in place to prevent potential consequences against use of chemical or biological weapons.

"The reports which are coming from the southern and northern parts of Afghanistan... I have seen photographs of local population suffering from blisters. At this moment, I don't have confirmation on this, but the photos were quite disturbing.

"We should be prepared for any kind of warfare," he said during an event organised by the DRDO.

Echoing Parrikar's concerns, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said the Armed Forces must be prepared for all kinds of threat.

"Although chemical weapons have been banned by the United Nations, it could be used by an adversary," he said.

Parrikar and Rawat were speaking at an event where the DRDO handed over Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) Reconnaissance Vehicle and NBC drugs to the Army.

There were reports which suggested use chemical weapons in certain areas in Northern and Southern Afghanistan as people there had blisters and wounds.

More than a dozen people were killed in near-simultaneous attacks in Kabul yesterday. In the first attack, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gunfight between the police and several attackers.

A bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul in the second attack.