Surgical strikes: US Ambassador to India rushes back to New Delhi

Washington: US Ambassador to India Richard Verma has rushed back to India from Washington citing “very dynamic situation” after the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control or LoC.

“As far as I know, he’s returning to New Delhi. My understanding is that he believed that it was, appropriate for him to go back,” said State Department Spokesman John Kirby.

“He has got a big job. There a lot of responsibilities that come with it. And, obviously it’s a very dynamic situation and he felt it was prudent to go back. We support that,” Kirby said in his daily briefing.

He was responding to a question what was the reason that Verma, who was in Washington, had to suddenly cancel everything and rush back to New Delhi, or if he rushed from Washington back to New Delhi, was he carrying any message from the Secretary or from this building.

In a first, India carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, with the Army saying it inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Uri attack would not go unpunished.

PTI