New Delhi: Former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday revealed that the Congress-led UPA government decided against retaliating militarily against Pakistan following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, citing strong international pressure, particularly from the United States.
Chidambaram, who assumed office as Home Minister just days after the coordinated attacks that claimed around 160 lives, told ABP News, “Retribution crossed my mind, but the government decided not to carry out any military action against the neighbouring country.”
The former minister recalled that global powers urged India not to escalate the situation. “The whole world descended upon Delhi to tell us ‘don’t start a war.’ Condoleezza Rice, who was then US Secretary of State, flew in two or three days after I took over to meet me and the Prime Minister and said, ‘please don’t react.’ I said this is a decision the government will take. Without disclosing any official secret, it did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution,” he added.
Chidambaram further revealed that he discussed potential retaliation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior officials. “The Prime Minister had discussed this even when the attack was ongoing… The conclusion, largely influenced by the Ministry of External Affairs and the IFS, was that we should not physically react,” he stated.
The former Home Minister’s remarks immediately drew sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which termed the admission as “too little, too late”. A BJP spokesperson added, “The UPA government didn’t retaliate against Pakistan after 26/11 because the MEA was against it, and the US told us not to go to war.”
On November 26, 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists entered Mumbai by sea and carried out coordinated attacks across the city, targeting the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Cama Hospital, Oberoi Trident, and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Colaba. Only Ajmal Kasab was captured alive and later executed in 2012.
