India warns perpetrators of Air Force base attack of grave consequences

India said on Monday that those who had inflicted pain on this country would also have to "feel the pain," in a stern warning to the perpetrators of the recent terror attack on the Pathankot air base in the northern state of Punjab.

"If someone is harming this country, I think that particular individual or organization should also receive similar pain," Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in the national capital.

"But the time and place should be of our choosing. History tells you that those who damage you, if they don't realize what pain they inflict, then they don't change."

The defense minister's comments, at a seminar to mark the 68th Army Day, came in the wake of the recent attack on the key air base where a large number of India's strategic assets like fighter jets and combat choppers are stationed.

Some six suspected Pakistani militants had carried out the terror attack on the air base, in which six Indian security forces personnel were killed and more than 50 others injured.

All the six terrorists belonging to Pakistani militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed -- which is said to have masterminded the attack -- were also eliminated by the Indian security forces after a 40-hour gunbattle that started on Jan. 2.

The deadly attack came a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a surprise visit to Lahore on the 66th birthday of his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. Endit