Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday drew parallels between India’s Operation Sindoor and the US mission that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden, stressing that both were executed “deep” within Pakistan’s territory.
Speaking at an event in Delhi, Dhankhar described Operation Sindoor, launched after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, as setting a “new global benchmark” in counter-terrorism while striving to preserve peace.
Without explicitly naming bin Laden, Dhankhar recalled the US forces’ action on May 2, 2011, against the “global terrorist” responsible for the September 11 attacks, describing it as a “similar” operation.
“Bharat has done it. And done it to the knowledge of the world,” he said. “This Operation Sindoor set a new global benchmark in tackling terrorism while still aiming to maintain peace.”
The Vice President referred to India’s precise strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan as the “deepest-ever cross-border strike” by the country.
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He emphasised that this was the first occasion when exact strikes targeted terror strongholds of groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba deep within Pakistan’s territory, with the operation confined strictly to terrorists.
Referring to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed at least 26 lives, Dhankhar described it as the deadliest assault on civilians since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolute message from Bihar following the incident, noting, “Those were not empty words. The world has now realised.”
Dhankhar also spotlighted the role every citizen must play in national security, particularly in sectors like trade, business and commerce. He warned against empowering nations hostile to India’s interests.
“Can we afford to empower countries that are inimical to our interests? Time has come when each one of us must deeply think about economic nationalism,” he said.
Concluding his address at the Jaipuria institutions in Delhi, the Vice President stressed the primacy of patriotism. “And therefore, I firmly believe that we must always keep one thing in mind, and that is: Nation first. And that mindset we must teach our toddlers right from day one,” he said
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