Prove Pak's Lying And Strikes Took Place, Arvind Kejriwal Urges PM Modi

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a new video to expose "Pakistan's false propaganda" about the surgical strikes that were conducted by the army across the Line of Control last week.

Pakistan has denied that the strikes took place, and accused India of passing off cross-border firing as raids conducted across the de facto border.

Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, all but asked the government to release footage of the strikes which were conducted on seven terrorist launch pads or staging areas in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Claiming that foreign media, appears to be backing Pakistan's claim, he says, "My blood boils to see such reports".

The 46-year-old chief minister, a habitual critic of PM Modi, made it clear in his nearly three minute-long video, "I may have 100 differences with the PM, but I salute him for his approach towards Pakistan."

The government has said that it will decide when and if to share evidence of last week's strikes. Footage and stills were recorded in part through drones, government sources have said.

"The PM knows how to answer Pakistan. Kejriwal should worry about freeing Delhi of dengue and chikungunya, instead of giving advice to the PM," said a caustic BJP spokesperson, RP Singh.

In July, Mr Kejriwal had also referred to the PM in a 10-minute video appeal to supporters and members of his Aam Aadmi Party. He warned that the PM, unnerved by the Delhi government's accomplishments and effective policies, "could even have me eliminated".

The strikes last Wednesday were conducted to take out terrorists who were prepping to infiltrate India and launch attacks in major metros, the army said when it announced its action last week. But the raids are also being seen as retaliation for the attack by Pakistani terrorists on an army base in Uri last month which left 19 soldiers dead. PM Modi had said the attack, the army's worst setback in the Kashmir region in over 14 years, would "not go unpunished."

Several top government officers have warned that India will not hesitate to repeat the cross-border strikes to protect itself. However, PM Modi said over the weekend, striking the note of strategic restraint that India has exercised, that Delhi does not "covet any territory." In earlier speeches, he has made clear distinctions between the Pakistani people and their government, with whom his administration has exchanged sharp recriminations.