Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Feb 20: Union defence minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, asserted that the morale of the soldiers has not been dented by the recent terrorist attack. She said that the soldiers are in readiness for any kind of combat.

The minister was addressing a press conference here on Tuesday February 19 in connection with the Aero India 2019 show being held here from February 20 to 24. "Already our Prime Minister has given complete freedom to our defence forces towards handling terrorist attacks and mischievous activities of Pakistan in border areas. Along with this, the Indian populace and also the ministry have extended unconditional moral support to the forces. Therefore, there is no question of our soldiers backtracking from the work assigned to them," she explained.

Nirmala said that the unconditional support being extended to the soldiers by the people has grown by leaps and bounds after the Pulwama attack. She promised to further intensify the drive against the terrorism.

The minister sought to question Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, about the steps taken by his government after the previous such attacks and what kind of assistance his country has extended to India to fight terrorism. She lambasted Pakistan for not taking any steps even after the courts directed the government there to take measures to contain terrorism.