Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made an indirect reference to the air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force on terror camps across the Line of Control when he sought apology from the audience at the Rashtrapati Bhawan for being late as he was "busy" with "some other work".
He had chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security at his official home around 10.00 am today before rushing to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, where President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2015-2018.
The event at the Rashtrapati Bhawan was to begin at 11.00 am, but started a little late.
"First of all, my apologies for being late. The programme started late as I reached here (Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan) late. I was busy in some other work and I was late," he said while addressing the gathering.
India carried out "non-military, pre-emptive air strikes" across the Line of Control early this morning to target the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was planning more attacks in the country after Pulwama, the government said on Tuesday. India struck the biggest camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and a "very large number" of terrorists were eliminated, said Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.