evidence: ‘Many surgical strikes during UPA’s tenure’, says former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure, too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting reply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises," Singh, 86, said in an interview with Sunetra Choudhury of Hindustan Times Indian armed forces received a free hand to respond to external threats during the term of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) as well and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempt to gain electoral mileage from military operations are "shameful and unacceptable," says former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure, too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting reply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises," Singh, 86, said in an interview with Sunetra Choudhury of Hindustan Times. [...] Let me remind you that our armed forces were always given a free hand to operationally respond to every threat. Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting reply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises. In the past 70 years, a government in power never had to hide behind the valour of our armed forces. Such attempts to politicize our forces are shameful and unacceptable.