Key Points

Tewari made these remarks amid the controversy stirred up following Chidambaram's (former home minister) remarks that retaliation had crossed his mind, but the government chose to exercise restraint under global pressure.

Tewari emphasised that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, under Dr. Manmohan Singh, took national security decisions with utmost seriousness and without succumbing to external pressure.

"Mr Chidambaram can offer his own clarification on his statement if he wishes. But the reality is that if you read the book of Shivshankar Menon, who was Foreign Secretary at the time, or the writings of MK Narayanan, the then National Security Advisor, it clearly tells that India took the option of taking strategic action very seriously, and the government then deliberately ensured that it would isolate Pakistan from the mainstream of the world by applying diplomatic pressure. To say that any government, especially the UPA government and Dr Manmohan Singh's government, makes national security decisions under pressure is completely false," he said.

On the other hand, PM Modi on Wednesday attacked the then Congress-led UPA government. He stated that under the BJP-led government, national security remains the top priority, and decisive action has been taken against Pakistan after terror strikes.

Without naming him, PM Modi referred to a recent interview of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, in which he discussed the UPA government's response to Pakistan following the 26/11 attacks.

Referring to his remarks, the Prime Minister asked the Congress to reveal who decided to stop the security forces from attacking Pakistan under foreign influence, asserting that the nation has the right to know.

Highlighting Mumbai's importance, PM Modi said, "Mumbai is not only the economic capital city but also one of the most vibrant cities in India. That is why terrorists chose Mumbai for a major attack in 2008. But the Congress government in power then sent a message of weakness, a message of surrender to terrorism."

He added, "Recently, a senior Congress leader, who even served as the former Home Minister, revealed big things in an interview. He claimed that after the Mumbai attack, our forces were ready to attack Pakistan. The entire country wanted the same. But according to that Congress leader, the then government stopped India's forces from taking action due to pressure from another country. Congress must tell us who made this decision under foreign pressure, who played with Mumbai's national sentiment. The country has the right to know. This weakness of Congress strengthened the terrorists and weakened national security, a price repeatedly paid by the country in lives lost."

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "terribly wrong" remarks over the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

In a post on X, Chidambaram expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Modi misattributing the words to him.

Senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, earlier this month, expressed frustration over being misquoted by the media regarding his comments on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

"In no part of the interview to Megha Prasad's podcast did I say that 'US stopped us from retaliating after the 26/11 attack. Yet, channel after channel and the media and the Twitterati are merrily attributing words to me. These are the perils of talking to the media!" wrote Chidambaram.

- ANI