New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday in the national capital and discussed the take-aways from the Pathankot terror attack, where they stressed on the need of improved intelligence inputs and also lauded the bravery showed by security forces during the operations.
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.
They 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 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.
However, in view of the continuing threats from hostile elements from across the border, the need to further upgrade both intelligence and preventive abilities especially in terms of technology was stressed.
It was also decided that the security audit of all vulnerable stations, of armed forces, para-military forces and police would be carried out within a given time frame.
The need to have a better media communication strategy was also asserted and it was decided that in such incidents, the media should be 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.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar, and senior officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence were also present at the internal security meeting.
