Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed the Congress party for not ‘acting’ against Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attacks due to pressure from a foreign country.
The Prime Minister sought answers from the Congress party on made the decision at that time.
“Mumbai is not only the economic capital city but also one of the most vibrant cities in India. This is the reason terrorists attacked Mumbai. But the then Congress government gave a message of weakness. Recently, a senior Congress leader and former Home Minister has revealed that after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, our security forces were ready to attack Pakistan, but due to pressure from another country, the Congress government at the time stopped our security forces,” PM Modi said while speaking after inaugurating the Phase 1 of Navi Mumbai International Airport.
The Prime Minister was referring to recent remarks by Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram admitting that the Congress-led UPA government had decided not to retaliate against Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks due to intense international pressure.
What did P Chidambaram say?
The Congress leader has revealed that “retribution crossed my mind” but the government decided against military action.
“The whole world descended upon Delhi to tell us don’t start a war,” said Chidambaram during a recent interview. Chidambaram took over as the Union Home Minister days after the 26/11 terror attacks that claimed the lives of 175 people.
“Condoleezza Rice, who was then US Secretary of State, flew in two or three days after I took over, to meet me and the Prime Minister. And to say, ‘please don’t react’. I said this is a decision that the government will take. Without disclosing any official secret, it did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution,” the Congress leader acknowledged.
Congress needs to tell who made the decision
PM Modi said in his Navi Mumbai speech that the Congress needs to tell who made the decision under pressure from a foreign power.
“The country has all right to know. Congress’s weakness strengthened the terrorists. The country repeatedly has had to pay for this mistake by sacrificing lives. For us, nothing is more important than national security and the safety of our citizens,” he said.
Chidambaram had even said that he discussed a possible retaliation with the Prime Minister and “other people who mattered.”
The Congress’s weakness strengthened the terrorists. The country repeatedly has had to pay for this mistake by sacrificing lives.
“The Prime Minister had discussed this even when the attack was going on… And the conclusion was, largely influenced by the the Ministry of External Affairs, and the IFS, that we should not physically react to the situation,” he recalled.
What happened on 26/11 in Mumbai?
A group of 10 Pakistani terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out attacks on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj train station; the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Cama Hospital, and the Nariman House on November 26, 2008 in what later went to be known as Mumbai attacks. Ajmal Kasab, one of the terrorists who was caught by the Mumbai Police, was executed in 2012.
PM Modi’s remarks in Mumbai assume significance since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has frequently cited India’s reaction after the Mumbai attack as an example of the UPA’s weakness in foreign policy and security issues.
The saffron party often compares the Congress-led government’s response to its government’s response to terror attacks through surgical strikes and more – in 2016 in response to the Uri terror attack, the 2019 Balakot air strike in response to the Pulwama terror attack, and Operation Sindoor in 2025, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
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