Days after surgical strikes, PM Narendra Modi takes dig at Pakistan, says India never attacked any country first

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a veiled swipe at Pakistan over its terror-related and infiltration activities.

New Delhi: Days after Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a veiled swipe at Pakistan over its terror-related and infiltration activites and said India till date has neither coveted territory nor attacked any other country first. 

PM Modi was speaking at the inauguration of Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in the national capital when he, without naming Pakistan in his speech, said, "India has never coveted territory, never attacked another country, yet thousands of Indians gave their lives in the first World War."

"In the last two years, you have seen how the government rescued people from conflict situations, not just Indians but foreigners too," PM Modi said at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, a state-of-the-art complex dedicated to overseas Indians.

The Prime Minister's remarks came amid deteriorating India-Pakistan ties and escalating border tension after the September 18 terror attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers.

On Saturday, against the backdrop of cross-LoC surgical strikes, PM Modi met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.

Though it was not known what transpired, the sources claimed that the Prime Minister briefed President Mukherjee on the recent developments in the aftermath of the 'surgical strikes' carried out by the army across the LoC. 

Days after the attack, India claimed to have carried out a covert anti-terror operation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that destroyed several terrorist launch pads and inflicted "significant casualties" on militant groups across the Line of Control. 

The action, as a retaliation to the Uri terror attack, has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan with fears of military confrontation.