New Delhi: Decisive action has replaced dossiers and the new India can go to any extent to uproot terrorism, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday while stating that Operation Sindoor was on pause as the armed forces had achieved the desired objectives.
Initiating the special discussion on “India’s strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam” in the Lok Sabha, Singh said the military action against Pakistan had sent a clear message to supporters of terrorism that India was committed to defend its motherland.
Just as the debate started in the Lok Sabha, security forces in Jammu and Kashmir reported that three terrorists have been gunned down after a massive gunfight.
“Today, dossiers have been replaced by decisive action. Today’s India thinks differently and acts differently. We believe that if the adversary uses terrorism as part of strategy and does not understand the language of peace, then standing firm and being decisive is the only option,” Singh said.
Rejecting US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the minister added, “Operation Sindoor was paused as the armed forces had achieved the desired politico-military objectives and there was no pressure to end the conflict with Pakistan.”
If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again, he added.
Singh asserted that India now believes in taking decisive action as peace overtures have not yielded desirable results.
The defence minister also made light of the opposition attacks against the government on the loss of military assets in the four-day war and urged political rivals to ask the number of Pakistani aircraft downed by India.
“It is the opposition’s job to ask questions of the government. Our opposition members kept asking how many of our aircraft were shot down, but they never asked how many Pakistani planes our forces had shot down,” Singh said.
“If you want to ask questions, then ask if any of our soldiers were harmed in this operation. The answer is no, none of our soldiers were harmed.”
Singh said Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 6-7 to deliver justice to those who lost their loved ones in the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks in Pahalgam on April 22.
To say or believe that Operation Sindoor was stopped under any pressure is baseless and completely incorrect, he said.
It was Pakistan’s director general of military operations who requested his Indian counterpart to end the strikes, the minister asserted.
Singh’s statement comes in the backdrop of Trump’s claims of mediation to end the conflict between India and Pakistan.
“The objective of Operation Sindoor was to destroy the terror nurseries nurtured by Pakistan over the years. The objective was to provide justice to the families who lost their loved ones in the Pahalgam terror attack,” Singh told the House.
“The overall politico-military objective of Operation Sindoor was to punish Pakistan for carrying out a proxy war through terrorism. This was the reason armed forces were given complete freedom to select targets and give a befitting response,” he said.
Singh added that the idea behind Operation Sindoor was not to start a war but force the adversary to bend through demonstrative use of force.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to know from the defence minister why Operation Sindoor was halted.
“Aapne roki kyun (why did you halt),” asked Gandhi, a question that had ruling party members on their feet.
The minister said he had already spoken about it and the Leader of Opposition should listen to his speech.
“Operation Sindoor symbol of our strength… demonstrated that India will not remain silent if anyone harms its citizens,” Singh said.
The defence minister said India first extends the hand of friendship, but it also knows how to twist the wrist if any country betrays it.
“Pakistan initially rejected our rationale of specific targeting of terror outfits during Operation Sindoor and sought to escalate the situation targeting India’s civil and military places, thus violating the ceasefire.”
He said Pakistan used missiles, drones, rockets, including long-range rockets, among others, to target airports, military establishments and military cantonments.
“However, they failed to cause any damage to any establishment,” he said.
“In any exam, results matter, not whether the pencil was broken or the pen lost. Ultimately, results matter,” Singh said, responding to opposition criticism.
The minister said India has always aspired for peace with Pakistan, and cited the historic Lahore bus journey undertaken by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999. However, India’s peaceful outreach was misunderstood as weakness.
“We once spoke the language of the Lahore bus journey, but Pakistan did not understand that. We now respond with the Balakot strike,” Singh said.
He said successive Indian governments have made efforts to maintain friendly ties with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries.
“India wants friendly relations with all, and we have demonstrated this consistently,” Singh said.
