Requires lots of courage to take decisions like Balakot airstrikes: VK Singh

Gen (retd) VK Singh said the airstrike is not important, what is important is the courage to take such a decision. It takes a lot of courage to take such a decision considering all the facts, he said.

Gen (retd) VK Singh is the BJP's candidate from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat. (Photo: PTI)

In the last leg of election campaign for the first phase of polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to woo voters on nationalism, air strikes and international relations.

General (retd) VK Singh, Union minister and BJP MP from Ghaziabad said the party is not telling the voters about the retaliation post-Pulwama attack, in which over 40 of paramilitary personnel were martyred, but the courage to take such a decision.

In an exclusive interview to India Today TV, Gen (retd) VK Singh said, "After 1971 (Indo-Pak war), for the first time, a strong decision was taken. The airstrike is not important, what is important is the courage to take such a decision. It takes a lot of courage to take such a decision considering all the facts."

"The airstrike was not a mere retaliation. I am a fauji (soldier) and faujis don't talk about revenge. The airstrike was not just mere an attack, it was a message that was sent to the entire world that to counter-terrorism, India will not care about boundaries," Singh said.

Asked about lack of star campaigners from BJP in Ghaziabad, Singh said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited before announcement of elections to inaugurate projects on which we worked. Now, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is campaigning. There were enough star campaigners. We have worked hard and we believe that the voters know this," he said.

While elaborating his government's achievement, Singh said the kind of relations India has developed with the countries of the world is unmatched.

"We are going to win this elections with a larger margin. I will not comment on the assessment of number of seats, but we are certainly forming a government as people understand that what the government has achieved," he said.

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