Telangana Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy welcomed the pre-emptive strikes on terror camps on the Pakistan soil and also wanted the Government to plan surgical attacks by the Army the way United States did to eliminate Osama Bin Laden.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Reddy, who was a fighter pilot with Indian Air Force before joining politics, said Pakistan needed to be taught a lesson for openly supporting terror outfits despite the evidence provided to them for their acts against India. He preferred surgical strikes by the Army to eliminate the terrorists working against India from the Pakistan soil as India had a right to defend its nation.

He said Pakistan was undoubtedly supporting terror outfits like JeM and LeT to carry out a covert war against India. The whole nation appreciated the surgical strike carried out by the Indian Army, he said. Later, he tweeted, saying “As a former @IAF_MCC fighter pilot, my heart swells with pride at the skill & valour of the Mirage 2000 pilots who destroyed Pakistani terror camps across the LOC. Congratulations to the Air Warriors!#IndianAirForce,” he tweeted.

“I salute our @IAF_MCCs brave Air Warriors who have effectively carried out the air strike.#IndianAirForce should also strike down terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammeds (JeM) Headquarters in Bahawalpur & send a strong message against Cross Border Terrorism,” he said in another tweet.

BJP State president K. Laxman termed the air strikes a matter of pride for the entire country. Addressing a meeting organised by the BJP Mahila Morcha here, he said after the successful surgical strikes earlier, the present strikes to destroy terror outfits were a matter of pride for everyone. He said the strikes happening when a woman was the Defence Minister were all the more pride for Indians and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision.