Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar meets the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh

The Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh and the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar met here today and discussed the take-aways from the Pathankot incident.

The Ministers appreciated the work done by both the intelligence agencies, in giving advance warning of the attack and of the security agencies, in effectively meeting the challenge and minimising the possible damage. The Ministers also appreciated the bravery shown by the security forces in the incident and paid homage to those who sacrificed their lives in it.

Discussions were held on the means to further strengthen the prevention, detection and foiling of such dastardly attacks. It was felt that the many strengths displayed by all the concerned agencies, especially in terms of their synergized response needs not only to be commended, but also further built upon. It was felt that once the intelligence input had been confirmed, the response time was quick enough, both in terms of decisions that were taken, and in deployment of forces.

In view of the continuing threats from hostile elements from across the border, the need to further upgrade both intelligence and preventive abilities specially in terms of technology was stressed. It was decided that the security audit of all vulnerable stations, of armed forces, para-military forces and police would be carried out within a given timeframe.

The need to have a better media communication strategy was also felt. It was decided that in such incidents, media is best briefed by the authorised persons on the spot and arrangements for this, including training, should be put in place, to meet such contingencies, should they happen in the future.

Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser, Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Home Secretary, Shri G. Mohan Kumar, Defence Secretary and senior officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence were also present on the occasion.