Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country is in “safe hands”, just hours after the Indian government said it had carried out a “non-military pre-emptive strike” targeted at the “biggest training camp” of Pakistan-based militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

“It is such a moment that we should salute our bravehearts, bow to them,” the prime minister told a gathering of ex-servicemen in Rajasthan’s Churu, according to the Hindustan Times. “I assure you that the nation is in safe hands.”

Without making a direct reference to the overnight strikes by the Indian Air Force across the Line of Control, Modi said: “There is nothing more important than this country.”

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The prime minister, while recalling that he pledged to protect the country when he took office in 2014, said he will not let his country down. “In 2014 I had said and repeat it again… Saugandh mujhe is mitti ki, main desh nahin mitne dunga, main desh nahin rukne dunga, main desh nahin jhukne dunga [I vow that I will not let the nation be erased, I will not let the nation stop, I will not let the nation bow down].”

Modi said he sensed a fervour in the crowd. “The reason I am able to work like this is because of your support, your trust... and let me tell you this... that we are a government that thinks a group is bigger than an individual, and the nation is bigger than any group,” Modi said, according to NDTV.

Also read – IAF strike on Pakistan: What is a ‘non-military preemptive action’?