Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri along with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh on Wednesday, addressed the media on Operation Sindoor, shedding light on India's reply to the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack which claimed 26 lives on 22 April.
On Wednesday morning, the Indian Armed Forces launched strikes on nine locations inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan. These included Bahawalpur, Muridke, and Sialkot, and five in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Misri said the attack on terror camps in Pakistan, and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir was a measured, non-escalatory attempt of India to destroy the terror infrastructure. The destroyed terror camps included the training areas and launch pads for the terrorists with no harm to civilans or Pakistan's military infrastructure.
The Foreign Secretary said that the attack on Pahalgam was driven by an objective of undermining the return of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Below are the nine terror camps which have been destroyed:
"The attack in Pahalgam was marked with extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots at close range and in front of their family...the family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message. The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining normalcy returning to Kashmir," he said.
Misri said that Indian intelligence agencies have been monitoring terrorist activities and raised concerns regarding more terrorist attacks in India.
"Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and prevent and hence earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond to deter such more cross-border terrorism... Our actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists' infrastructure," he said.
Taking aim at Pakistan the foreign secretary said that there had been no demonstratable step from Pakistan against the terrorists and it was determined that the perpetrators of the attack had to be brought to justice.
"It was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the Pahalgam attack be brought to justice. Despite a fortnight having passed, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan against terrorists' infrastructure in its area."
Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force jointly carried out the operation, mobilising assets and troops. The strikes on all nine targets were successful. The Indian forces selected the locations to target top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders involved in sponsoring terrorist activities in India.
"Operation Sindoor," which targeted nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. India's Ministry of Defence was in direct response to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on 22 April that killed 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen and injured several others," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
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