Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at Pakistan's nuclear defence in a recent interview, saying he had personally visited the neighbouring country to assess its strength. During an interview with India TV amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Senior journalist Rajat Sharma asked Modi about remarks made by a Congress leader suggesting India should fear Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
"Uss taakat ko mei khud Lahore jaakar check karke aaya hu (I had personally visited Pakistan to check how powerful it is)," PM Modi said, recalling his 2015 visit to Lahore. He recounted how reporters were surprised by his arrival without a visa, saying, "Haye Allah toba, ye bina visa ke aa gaye (Oh my God, he has arrived without a visa)."
PM Modi added, "I told them it was my country at some point of time."
The clip of Modi's interview has since gone viral on the internet.
Watch video here:
What Mani Shankar Aiyar said?
Congress veteran and a former diplomat and vocal advocate of normalising India-Pakistan relations, Mani Shankar Aiyar said that the government can talk tough to Islamabad if it wants to, but if it doesn’t respect the neighbouring country, it may have to pay a heavy price. "They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a ‘madman’ decides to drop a bomb on Lahore, it won’t take 8 seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar," he said. "If we respect them, they will remain peaceful. But if we snub them, what happens if a ‘madman’ comes up and decides to launch bombs [at India]?" Aiyar asked.