India won't play on back foot against terror, our security doctrine has changed: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi, Mar 22: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a fresh attack at the Congress party after party's overseas wing head Sam Pitroda raised questions over the Indian Air Force strike on a terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot.

"There is no country that has criticised the surgical strikes or the air strikes conducted by India except for one nation, Pakistan. The fact that senior Congress leaders are speaking the same language is unfortunate and also hurts the sentiments of the country. To say that the Pulwama attack was self-engineered is a blessing for Pakistan's narrative," he said.

Pitroda, who is a close aide of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, had reportedly said that post the Mumbai terror attacks, India could have responded with air strikes, but "according to me that's not how you deal with world."

He had also said he wanted to "know more" about the Balakot air attack and number of terrorists killed in it.

Saying that Pitroda's statement was "erroneous", Jaitley asserted that it was based on the assumption that Pakistan state actors and non-state actors were different.

"Their (Pakistan's) reaction to terror attacks has pointed out that non-state attackers are just an extended limb to the state actors of Pakistan," Jaitley told reporters on the sidelines of a function where former cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined the BJP.

He said, "The security doctrine of India has changed now. We attack at the point of origin of terror now. This is now an ideological battle between those who want to defend India using all possible measures or those who want to fight for India with their hands tied behind their back."

Days after the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans, the Indian Air Force fighter jets bombed terror group JeM training camp near Balakot inside Pakistan on February 26.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)