Parrikar says, “We don’t itch for a fight.” File photo

Panaji, November 26

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said India did not seek war, but would “gouge out eyes” of the enemy if provoked.”We don’t itch for a fight, but if someone looks at the country with evil eye, we will gouge his eyes out and put them back in his hand, we have that much power,” he said while addressing a rally in Aldona Assembly constituency in Goa.Goans can tell the world that they had sent a man to the Centre who had slapped the enemy across the face, he said.“There was no firing on the border for the last three days because if they (Pakistan) fire once, we fire twice at them. We are giving tit-for-tat response, and when they realised it, they approached us, seeking to stop it,” Parrikar said in an apparent referrence to the request by Pakistan for DGMO-level talks three days ago.Asserting that, Armed Forces were fully prepared, Parrikar said his mother had taught him that “even if you are going to hunt a rabbit, be prepared to kill a tiger”. — PTI

Five soldiers hurt in Manipur ambush

Imphal: Five Special Forces personnel of the Indian Army were injured in an ambush by militants in Chandel district of Manipur on Saturday. An IED blast was triggered during a combing operation followed by light arms fire by the militants. The incident occurred at Sajik Tampak in Chandel district, close to the Myanmar border. In 2015, 18 soldiers were killed in an ambush in Chandel, while in May six personnel of Assam Rifles died in the district. PTI