New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday spoke to her counterparts in the US, China, Singapore, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and briefed them about the pre-dawn strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan, official sources said.
In her telephonic conversation with US Secretary of Mike Pompeo, Swaraj explained the reasons behind the strike and conveyed that the action was specifically targeted at the JeM camp. She also spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and apprised him about the “non-military, pre-emptive air strikes”, the sources said. They said she also briefed her counterparts from Singapore, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on the strike.
Separately, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale apprised the envoys of all major countries including from the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom, the sources said. Envoys of Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Turkey and Indonesia were also briefed about the air strike. The MEA’s respective divisions looking after relations with specific countries briefed their envoys on the strike.
“The diplomatic corps feel very satisfied for the quick and organised manners in which the Ministry of External Affairs briefed all heads of missions,” Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, Dean of Diplomatic Corps said. “We received the information that it was a direct attack to limited and specific objectives with no military and civilian casualties,” he said.
The envoy of the Dominican Republic said India conveyed to heads of the missions that it has “no intention to escalate” tension with Pakistan, and will act responsibly. Hours after the strike, Gokhale told the media that a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated.
“Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary,” he said.
