Amid escalating tension between New Delhi and Islamabad, Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said if US commandos can kill Al-Qaeda's chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's Abbottabad then so can India, drawing a parallel with IAF's bombing of a Jaish-e-Mohammad base in Balakot.
The Finance Minister was referring to the US Navy SEALs' operation in 2011 when the Americans neutralised the Al Qaeda founder in his Abbottabad home, where he was hiding for over a decade after pulling off the horrific 9/11 World Trade Center attack.
Jaitley said India too can do a similar mission by bringing down its most wanted JeM chief Masood Azhar.
Advertisement
Referring to the US operation in Abbotabad, Jaitley said, "It is said that a week is too long a time in politics. In our country the way people get enthusiastic, if you look at the last 24 hours, one week would appear to be a day.
"The kind of things we see.... I remember when the US Navy SEALs had taken Osama bin Laden from Abottabad, can't we do the same?"
"We could earlier only imagine, desire and get frustrated and disappointed (for failing to conduct such operations). But today, it is possible," he said at an event dedicated to generate funds to clean river Ganga.
Advertisement
His comments came a day after Indian fighter jets bombed a training centre of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot.
(With agency inputs)
