india

Updated: Sep 25, 2019 22:11 IST

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday discounted any slackness on the part of the security forces and asserted that they are fully prepared to face any threat and challenge after army chief General Bipin Rawat said that Pakistan has revived terror camps in Balakot.

“Don’t worry, our security forces are fully prepared,” he told reporters after commissioning INS Varaha, the offshore patrol vessel of Indian Coast Guard in Chennai.

Singh was responding to a question about reactivation of terror training camps at Balakot, which the Indian Air Force destroyed in a surgical strike in February in response to the Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers.

On Monday, General Rawat’s had said that Pakistan had revived the terror training camps and that over 500 militants were waiting to sneak into Kashmir from across the Line of Control.

Singh assured that the country’s security forces were fully geared up to meet the situation.

Asked about Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s letter to Union home minister Amit Shah on Pakistan smuggling arms through drones, Singh said, “With respect to security we are fully prepared, be it Army, navy or Air Force.”

The drone incident, according to him was just one of the “sinister designs” of Pakistan following the nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution, guaranteeing special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Punjab Chief Minister had urged Shah to take necessary action following the air dropping of weapons’ consignment in the state by Pakistani drones in Tarn Taran.

Intelligence agencies had warned the government that drones could be used to smuggle arms and ammunition to terrorists who are already in Kashmir.