New Delhi: In his first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sternly warned Pakistan that India will not succumb to nuclear blackmail and sent a clear message to the world: terror and trade, terror and talks cannot go together.
“Operation Sindoor is India’s new policy against terrorism. It is the new normal. We have only kept in abeyance our operations against Pakistan and the future will depend on their behaviour,” Modi said in a 22-minute address.
He also had an advice to Pakistan’s rulers: “The terrorists they have been feeding and nurturing all these years will swallow Pakistan itself. If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to root out terrorism.”
India will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and terrorists, Modi said, warning of decisive action in case of any misadventure.
“This is not an era of war, but this is not the era of terror either,” Modi said, as he paid glowing tributes to the armed forces for successfully forcing Pakistan to plead for peace after eight of their airbases were heavily damaged.
“Any talks with Pakistan can happen only on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” the prime minister said.
Modi’s assertions about not doing trade with Pakistan came minutes after US President Donald Trump said that he told India and Pakistan that his administration will do trade with them only if they end the conflict.
Trump also suggested that the conflict between the two countries could have spiralled into a nuclear war, killing millions of people.
Modi said that while Pakistan pleaded with India to stop the military offensive, New Delhi considered it only after they promised to stop their misadventure.
The prime minister termed the Pahalgam attack as the most “barbaric face of terrorism”, saying it was personal pain for him, but the enemy has now realised the consequences of removing “sindoor from the forehead of our women”.
Addressing the nation, Modi said Operation Sindoor was not just a name but, through it, the whole world saw India’s resolve turn into action and more than 100 dreaded terrorists were slaughtered.
“Pakistan wiped the sindoor off our sisters’ foreheads. We wiped out the universities of terror running in Pakistan,” he said, dedicating the valour of armed forces to mothers, sisters and daughters of this country.
Outlining the ‘new normal’, he said India will give a befitting response to any terror attack on its own terms by targeting the terror havens.
He said, “Secondly, India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail. India will launch precise attacks on terror sites being nurtured under the protection of nuclear blackmail.”
Thirdly, he added, the country will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the patrons of terrorists.
“Pakistan has to dismantle its terror infrastructure. There is no other way to peace,” the prime minister said.
With terror infrastructure destroyed in a big way and terror sites left in ruins, India considered stopping military actions after Pakistan said it would desist from any terror or military action, he said.
“The Pahalgam attack was the most barbaric face of terrorism, it was a personal pain for me. We gave the armed forces full liberty to raze terrorists to dust,” he said.
“When our missiles and drones destroyed terror sites in Pakistan, not only their buildings but their spirit was also demolished. When ‘Nation First’ is our resolve, steely decisions are taken,” he said.
Pakistan slumped into gloom after the Indian attack on terror camps, “but they dared to attack us rather than helping fight terrorism. More than 100 dreaded terrorists were slaughtered in the Indian attack”, Modi said.
“The entire world saw how Pakistani drones were downed by our military might. India has struck at the heart of Pakistan, our missiles attacked with precision to damage their air bases,” he said.
Modi reiterated that terror and talks, and terror and trade cannot go together. Blood and water, he added in a reference to India putting in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty, cannot flow together.
“I will tell world leaders too that this is our stated policy that if dialogue will occur, then it will be on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir,” he said, adding that terror sites targeted by India were also linked to the 9/11 terror attacks in the US and the London tube bombing.
In the broadcast, Modi saluted the armed forces, intelligence agencies and scientists and ended his speech by raising the slogan of “Bharat mata ki jai” three times.
The prime minister lauded the unity shown by the country against the terror attack, which he said was aimed at creating communal divide as well because the terrorists carried out religious profiling of victims. “Our unity is our biggest strength,” he added.
After India eliminated dreaded terrorists roaming freely in Pakistan in one strike, Pakistan sank into despair and attacked India in desperation instead of cooperating in the action against terrorism, he said.
Religious places like gurdwaras and temples, civilians in their homes and military facilities were targeted, he said, adding that Pakistan ended up unmasking itself as the world saw its drones and missiles being brought down like “straws” by India’s air defence system.
He said Operation Sindoor has unveiled a new dimension of India’s capabilities as the armed forces not only put up a “glorious performance in deserts and mountains but also proved their superiority in the new age warfare”.
PM Modi said destruction was inflicted on Pakistan beyond its imagination in three days and began pleading across the world for an escape route.
Asserting that India will continue to take decisive steps to protect itself and its citizens, he said indigenous weapons have proved their superiority in the conflict and added that their time has come.
Lord Buddha, whose birth anniversary fell on Monday, showed the path to peace but “it passes through shakti” (power), he said, adding that it is a must for India to be powerful to be peaceful and prosperous.
Using power is also at times necessary for peace and this is what India has done in the past few days, he said.
PM Modi proven no enemy of Bharat can go unpunished: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation, saying he made clear the country’s resolve to strike back the very moment its enemies dared to make a mistake.
In his first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, the prime minister sternly warned Pakistan that India would not succumb to “nuclear blackmail” and sent a clear message to the world that terror and trade, terror and talks could not go together.
“Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji today demarcated the boundary for Bharat’s enemies through the example of Operation Sindoor, in which our armed forces razed the very edifice of terrorism in Pakistan’s backyard,” Shah said in a post on X.
The country’s armed forces made Pakistan shudder with their might and set a new normal of zero tolerance for terrorism, he added.
“Modi ji has reiterated our resolve that Bharat will strike back the very moment our enemies dare to make a mistake,” Shah said.
The nation salutes the unparalleled valour of the armed forces, the home minister said in a separate post, describing them as “destroyers of the country’s enemies and the shield of Bharat”.
“We alo salute our first line of defence, the courageous personnel of the BSF (Border Security Force). The bravery of our forces will forever be etched in our glorious history,” he said.
The prime minister has proven, time and again, that no enemy of Bharat can go unpunished, Shah said as he congratulated Modi for his exemplary leadership in delivering justice to the “departed souls of our innocent brothers”.
In his address, the prime minister called Operation Sindoor India’s new policy against terrorism.
“It is the new normal. We have only kept in abeyance our operations against Pakistan and the future will depend on their behaviour,” Modi said.
Congress asks if PM has accepted US mediation on Kashmir, stopped ops against Pakistan for trade
The Congress on Monday demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on US President Donald Trump’s claims, made minutes before the prime minister addressed the nation, asking if the operation against Pakistan was stopped due to trade obligations and whether he had accepted American mediation on Kashmir.
The Congress also reiterated its demand for a special session of Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and the cessation of military action against Pakistan on US mediation, asserting that a collective resolve from Parliament was the need of the hour.
Asserting that India would not tolerate any “nuclear blackmail”, Modi on Monday said operations against Pakistan had only been kept in abeyance and the future would depend on the neighbouring country’s behaviour.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, “The prime minister, his drumbeaters, and his apologists should answer.”
“The prime minister’s much-delayed address to the nation was completely upstaged by President Trump’s revelations a few minutes earlier. The prime minister was completely silent on them. Has India agreed to US mediation? Has India agreed to a ‘neutral site’ for a dialogue with Pakistan? Will India now give in to US demands for opening Indian markets in autos, agriculture, and other areas?” Ramesh asked.
Trump on Monday reiterated his claim that his administration stopped a “nuclear conflict” between India and Pakistan, telling the south Asian neighbours that the US would do a “lot of trade” with them if they ended the hostilities.
Ramesh, a former Union minister, said Modi should immediately have a meeting with leaders of all political parties — something he had studiously avoided in the last 20 days.
“The months ahead will demand both painstaking diplomacy and a collective resolve. One-liners and dialogue-baazi are poor substitutes,” he asserted.
“We applaud and salute our armed forces unreservedly. They have done the country proud. We are 100 per cent with them at all times. But the prime minister has still much to answer for,” Ramesh said.
Congress media department in-charge Pawan Khera noted Trump’s statement came a few minutes before the prime minister’s address and called it “very disturbing”.
He said no Indian would accept what Trump said and “we expected that the prime minister would clarify and respond”.
“We need a clarification from the government of India on whether this operation was stopped due to trade,” Khera said, noting that India did not trade with “sindoor” and it was not possible to do trade with “sindoor”.
“We want to know on what terms mediation was done. Why did you not respond to what Donald Trump said on Kashmir? There are several questions in the minds of the country and there is a need for a collective resolve. There were two opportunities and two such all-party meetings were held but unfortunately the prime minister did not attend,” the Congress leader said.
“We again demand that there should be a special session of Parliament and there should be a collective resolve from all. Only the prime minister can create such a collective resolve. There will obviously be no sensitive issues discussed in that, but political issues will be raised,” he added.
There is a need to know what the nation gained and what it lost. This question remains to be answered, Khera asserted.
Asked if the Congress was dissatisfied with the prime minister’s address, he said, “We are all satisfied in view of the armed forces action and we salute them but we have to discuss politically with the prime minister and there are several questions to be asked.”
These questions can be answered only through a collective discussion and a collective resolve would emerge and that collective resolve is the need of the hour, he stressed.
Khera also said there had been several governments in the past and all of them attempted to de-hyphenate India and Pakistan as the two countries could not be equated.
“But, in the last few days, India and Pakistan have been equated and hyphenated by America and this is what we object to,” the Congress leader said.
“In the eyes of the entire world, the US has hyphenated India and Pakistan. We have strong objections to that,” he added.
In his first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, Modi said that while Pakistan pleaded with India to stop the military offensive, New Delhi considered it only after it promised to stop its misadventure.
The prime minister termed the Pahalgam attack the most “barbaric face of terrorism”, saying it was a personal pain for him but the enemy had realised the consequences of removing “sindoor from the foreheads of our women”.
The prime minister also said Operation Sindoor was not just a name but, through it, the entire world saw India’s resolve turn into action and more than 100 dreaded terrorists were slaughtered.
“India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail. We have only kept in abeyance our operations against Pakistan, the future will depend on their behaviour. Operation Sindoor is now India’s new policy against terrorism, a new line has been drawn,” he said.
