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(L-R) Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi at a Ministry of External Affairs press briefing on Operation Sindoor, in New Delhi on Thursday
| Photo Credit:
ANI
A day after the strikes on 9 terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC), India asserted that the military action was necessitated by Pakistan’s “original escalation” – terrorists killing 26 tourists in Pahalgam being the latest instance of the neighbouring country’s long-standing sponsorship of terrorism.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, fielded by government twice in the last 24 hours along with two women officers Army Colonel Sophia Quereshi and Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, gave a detailed account of the number of times India gave dossiers and evidences to Pakistan and the UN Security Council of Islamabad-sponsored terrorists and their involvement in a series of attacks in India right from Mumbai to Pahalgam.
Misri showed a picture at the press meet, depicting US-designate Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Hafiz Abdul Rauf conducting prayers on Wednesday after India’s strike for slain terrorists, whose coffins were draped in Pakistan national flag. The function was held under a tent filled with armed forces personnel wearing battle uniforms.
“What does this message convey?” the Foreign Secretary asked, referring to Pakistan State’s support for terrorists.
He pointed to Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s utterances that gave away the institutional support offered to terrorists by that country.
“Pakistan Army Chief’s speech in April was communal rhetoric. There could be links between his speech and the Pahalgam terror attack,” said the Foreign Secretary.
‘Seeds sowed 75 years ago’
On a query on the Sharif government claiming that 5 Indian fighter jets were downed, Misri said, “There is nothing surprising in it. After all, this is a country that started lying as soon as it was born. In 1947, when the Pakistani army claimed Jammu and Kashmir, they lied not to any random person but to the United Nations that we have nothing to do with it. So, this journey started 75 years ago.”
As further proof of Pakistan’s involvement with terror outfits, Misri said Pakistan tried to put pressure to remove references to the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba’s offshoot “The Resistance Front” in the UN Security Council press statement. The TRF had initially taken responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack BUT LATER BACKED OFF TO DENY LINKAGES TO PAKISTAN.
India has shared inputs about the TRF with the monitoring team of the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November of 2024. According to Misri, India will pursue it again at the UN Sanctions Committee, which will meet soon.
Pakistan harbours large numbers of UN-proscribed terrorists and terror organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and their chiefs Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, he stated.
No civilians attacked
The Foreign Secretary repeatedly stressed that India’s response has been “non-escalatory” targeting only terror infrastructure related to LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) while refraining from any attack on military or civilian establishments.
This was to counter the narrative peddled by Pakistan to justify its provocation since last night to launch aerial attacks through missiles and drones at 15 Indian military installations in Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.
Misri also debunked Pakistan’s call for a joint probe into the Pahalgam massacre of tourists, which he dubbed as another “delaying and stonewalling tactics” similar to past attempts in Mumbai and Pulwama terror attacks.
From Mumbai to Pahalgam
He stated that in the Mumbai terror strike in 2008, India gave forensic evidence and also of Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist who was arrested but later hanged to death, to Pakistan but the case did not progress, rather they were “stalled”.
Likewise, in the Pathankot fidayeen attack on 40 CRPF personnel in 2016, a joint investigation team was formed, DNA and other details like address of across the border FIGURES AND ESTABLISHMENTS were handed over to Pakistan, but there has been no movement.
“In all of this, our experience has been that Pakistan uses evidence to cover tracks and defend terrorists” and “obstruct the path”, said the senior bureaucrat.
He also condemned Pakistan for invoking religious sentiments by setting the narrative that mosques were targeted, and hiding that they were actually sanctuaries for terrorists.
He stated that in the heavy shelling in forward areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan targeted a Gurdwara and houses of Sikhs in Poonch, leaving three dead. Overall 16 have been killed in heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan forces which has left 59 injured.
Published on May 8, 2025
This article first appeared on The Hindu Business Line
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