New Delhi [India], November 12 (ANI): In the wake of the blast in Delhi, which killed at least eight people, Defence Expert Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd.) on Wednesday said that the decision regarding Operation Sindoor 2.0 will be made by a 'mature leadership' in the national interest.

When asked if Operation Sindoor will be executed again, Lt Gen Hasnain refused to make a prediction on the Centre's next move.

In an interview with ANI, he said, 'I know there has been a lot of talk in the environment of Operation Sindoor 2.0. I will not hazard any guess at this point. We have a mature leadership which will decide what is best in the national interest.'

The speculation around Operation Sindoor 2.0 began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Bhutan, said that the people responsible for the blast would be brought to justice. India has maintained that Operation Sindoor, which began on May 7 as a response to the Pahalgam attack, is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the defence expert highlighted the need for the government to invest in technology and promote citizen vigilance to prevent such incidents in the future.

He also lauded Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the police for their swift response.

'What we need is a much greater investment in technology, especially predictive AI. Along with that, citizen vigilance is very important. The way people immediately came forward to help after the incident. The manner in which the police responded. The Union Home Minister was there within a few hours, visiting the spot itself. So I think that inspires a lot of confidence among us that we are very, very capable of handling these kinds of incidents,' Lt Gen Hasnain said.

Comparing it to previous terror incidents and blasts in the country, he also denied that such incidents will shake the confidence of our security forces and people, lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre's handling of the case.

Lt Gen Hasnain noted, 'In the early part of the millennium, we had seen these kinds of incidents occur regularly for 10 years; they used to completely dent our confidence. PM Modi has also said that the conspirators behind this incident will not be spared. Our leadership has displayed maturity by not pointing fingers until the evidence is in front of us. I don't think it should dent our confidence. The manner in which this kind of incident has been handled by the government of India should inspire more confidence in people. That we will not allow that situation to come, which was in the 90s or the early part of the millennium.'

Recalling the 2001 Parliament attack, he said that such incidents did not shake the nation's confidence.

Further, calling for a continuous effort against the terror ecosystem, he hailed the Centre's recent efforts to strengthen ties with Taliban-led Afghanistan.

'We have seen this before, the attack on Parliament on 13th Dec, 2001. But that also didn't shake our confidence. Going after this ecosystem has to be a continuous effort, as diplomatically, the government of India has taken a wonderful decision to go to the Taliban. We have strengthened ties with Taliban-led Afghanistan. A lot of people were critical about this. I was very supportive of the government of India,' he said.

The blast took place near the Red Fort complex in the national capital on Monday evening, killing at least eight people and leaving several others injured.

The threads of the Delhi blast are linked to objectionable posters in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, for which an FIR was registered on October 19, sources have said, noting security forces took strong action to bust an inter-state Jaish-e-Mohammed module linked to the terror plot.

The probe has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

As a response, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the families of those who were killed in a car blast close to the Red Fort in New Delhi on Monday evening, Rs 5 lakh for permanently disabled individuals, and Rs 5 lakh each for seriously injured individuals. (ANI)