PM visits Pathankot, voices satisfaction over counter attack

Accompanied by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who is under attack over the way the terror attack was handled, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited the Pathankot air base and voiced satisfaction over the counter offensive mounted by the security forces to eliminate the perpetrators.

Facing criticism from opposition and others over the counter attack taking four days to liquidate the terrorists, Modi visited the facility where he was briefed about the attack and security measures put in place in its aftermath.

He flew to the strategically important air base where Air Force chief Air Marshal Arup Raha and National Security Guard officials briefed him about the attack and counteroffensive launched against the perpetrators with the help of of maps, aerial pictures and operational photographs, defence sources said. Army chief Dalbir Singh and chiefs of NSG and BSF were present during the visit.

"Noted with satisfaction the decision-making & its execution, the considerations that went into our tactical response," PMO tweeted after his visit to the airbase.

"Also noted coordination among various field units. Lauded bravery & determination of our men & women on the ground. They are our pride," it said  in another tweet.

Doval's decision to deploy NSG as the front line in the counter offensive, flying commandos from Delhi, instead of deploying army's Special Forces commandos available next door in Pathankot has come in for widespread criticism from several experts.

Modi also went around the scene of the audacious attack that exposed the chinks in the armour of the Indian security establishment and was shown the huge cache of weapons and ammunition recovered from the six slain perpetrators. Seven Indian security personnel were also killed during the assault.

The Prime Minister was taken around the Military Engineering Service Yard where the terrorists were first engaged by the security forces and the two-storey billet for airmen's accommodation where the last two terrorists were killed after the structure was blown up by the security forces, before undertaking an aerial survey of the forward positions along the Indo-Pakistan border.

Security forces had yesterday declared the sprawling Air Force station fully sanitised after a massive combing operation spanning over three days.