Sorry, was busy with some work: Modi after air strikes

Apologies for being late, was busy with some work, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the audience at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday soon after getting a brief on the airstrikes carried out by the Air Force in Balakot in Pakistan.

Modi had reached late at Rashtrapati Bhawan for a ceremony to give away the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

President Ram Nath Kovind was to give away the prizes at 11:00 a.m, but the function had to be delayed by a few minutes.

Minutes earlier, Modi was chairing the Cabinet Committee on Security where National Security Adviser Ajit Doval briefed him about the attacks carried out by the Air Force at Balakot, the home to terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp.

“First of all, my apologies for being late. The programme started late as I reached here late. I was busy in some other work and I was late,” the prime minister said without divulging any information.

Modi maintained his regular schedule for the day by flying off to Churu in Rajasthan to address an election rally. By evening, he was back in the capital to attend a function to unveil the world's largest copy of the Bhagwad Gita at the ISKCON Temple.

Modi hopped on to a Delhi Metro train at Khan Market to travel to South Delhi and on the way interacted with fellow passengers who clicked selfies with him.

Modi had a packed schedule since Tuesday morning when IAF jets took down terrorist camps in Balakot in pre-dawn strikes.

Modi also briefed the President about the air strikes and later made a phone call to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu to apprise him about the situation.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited Naidu at his official residence to give him a detailed briefing on the airstrikes.