Surat (Gujarat) [India], May 4 (ANI): Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil on Saturday addressed a business event here but refused to accept a bouquet or any other symbol of welcome, conveying that he would not do so until there is adequate retribution for the recent terror attack.

Patil attended the Global Investor Conference and delivered a speech soon after his arrival. After his speech, when the organisers announced that he would be welcomed with a bouquet, Patil conveyed to the person conducting the stage that he would not accept any such honour.

'No welcome, till there is revenge,' he said in Gujarati.

As organisers offered to honour him with a momento, Patil did not agree to that too.

A person on the stage said the Union Minister has decided that 'he will not be welcomed by a bouquet or a memento till the Pahalgam terror attack is avenged'. 'So we are standing here only for the group photo,' he added.

Patil greeted people with both hands, and people lauded his gesture.

Ashok Mehta, a businessman present on the occasion, told ANI over the telephone that the Union Minister had stated that there will not be a welcome till the Pahalgam terror attack is avenged.

Twenty-six people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.

The government has affirmed India's national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism. It has said that the terrorists responsible for the attack and the conspirators behind it will face severe punishment.

The government has given armed forces complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of India's response.

The government had convened an all-party meeting after the Pahalgam terror attack. Opposition parties have expressed their full support for any action taken by the government against the pepetrators of the terror attack.

In the briefing to the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting held a day after the terror attack, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in Jammu and Kashmir and its steady progress towards economic growth and development.

The government has announced a series of measures, including putting the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, to send a strong message to Pakistan for its support to cross-border terrorism.

Patil had said after Pahalgam terror attack that government will ensure that not even a single drop of water from the Indus River reaches Pakistan. (ANI)