The minister, however, did not speak about the nature of reaction saying the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take a call on it.
He stressed that the government “is very serious” about it.
“Something must have been wrong... I will not go into the details of it because it is a very sensitive matter. When something goes wrong while you try to correct it you should also ensure that it does not happen again,” Parrikar said here.
“I will not go into the details of what we are going to do. But if required I can have a knee-jerk reaction also. Sometimes a knee-jerk reaction is also required,” the minister said without elaborating.
“This country is a very responsible power; that does not mean I will sleep over this kind of terrorism that is being pushed across the border. How I do it is entirely for the government and the prime minister to decide,” said Parrikar.
“We will take a proper reading of everything,” he said.
Parrikar also quoted Modi as saying those behind the Uri terror attack would be punished.
“We will look into how to punish. We are quite serious about it.”
Eighteen soldiers died in the terror attack on an army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. Four terrorists who attacked the camp were also killed.
The terrorists were said to be carrying food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings, and Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has spoken to his Pakistani counterpart expressing concern over the incident.
Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met to discuss the attack.
The meeting was attended by the prime minister, Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
In other developments, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoned Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit.
According to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, Basit was reminded that the Pakistan government “had made a solemn commitment in January 2004 to not allow its soil or territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India.”
“The persistent and growing violation of this undertaking is a matter of very serious concern,” the statement said.
“The latest terrorist attack in Uri only underlines that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active. We demand that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment to refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism against India.”
India has blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohamed for the early morning attacks.
The statement said that beginning with the cross-border terror attack in January this year, there have been continuous attempts by armed terrorists to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and International Boundary in order to carry out attacks in India.
“Seventeen such attempts have been interdicted at or around the LoC, resulting in the elimination of 31 terrorists and preventing their intended acts of terrorism,” it said, adding that Jaishankar also reminded Basit that even as he spoke two engagements at the LoC were ongoing.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray asked the prime minister “to give a fitting reply to Pakistan.”
Thackeray said negotiations with Pakistan will not work now, India must reply in the same language.
“If a war is required, do it for the country, not for elections,” Thackeray said.
He said the Uri attack has enraged the people of the country, “but when are we going to understand Pakistan’s language and change our soft stance towards them?”
“We must keep in mind how Pakistan treats India and give it a befitting reply,” Thackeray said.