By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday met the three service chiefs to make a fresh assessment of the security situation, a day after Pakistan’s spy chief reportedly warned they had “identified targets” and carried out “rehearsal” for an attack on India.
At the meeting, also attended by Defence Minister A.K. Antony and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Army Chief General V.K. Singh, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik briefed the prime minister about the preparedness of the armed forces.
The sources said the meeting had been scheduled earlier but the Pakistani threat was taken up.
The government’s stock-taking comes in the wake of the changing scenario in the neighbourhood following the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the heart of Pakistan.
Osama, who evaded US-led forces for a decade, was shot dead May 2 by American commandos in a hideout close to Pakistan’s top military academy in Abbottabad, 50 km from Islamabad.
Monday’s meeting came a day after Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha warned India that any Abbottabad-like attack by New Delhi would invite a fitting response as targets inside India had been “identified” and “rehearsals” carried out.
The meeting also assumes significance because it comes after a two-day visit by Manmohan Singh to Kabul last week.
The Indian Army has also raised its alertness level in the wake of reports that Pakistan may try to infiltrate militants into Jammu and Kashmir.