India has asserted its sovereign right to act decisively against terrorism originating from across its borders, the government declared on Wednesday, soon after the Indian army had carried out a series of precision strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
In a press conference at Operation Sindoor, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sophia, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh clarified that India's response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam was "measured, calibrated, and non-escalatory."
"Our objective was clear—to destroy and eliminate the terror infrastructure along the border," Misri asserted, and said that the operation had been carried out with surgical strikes so as not to cause any collateral damage.
Misri accused Pakistan as a "terrorist safe haven" and held the country responsible for still providing sanctuary and shelter to terror outfits even after international denunciation. He cited the instance of Sajid Mir, one of the masterminds behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, as the ideal example of Pakistan's hypocrisy in dealing with terror.
Pakistan had previously outrightly denied that Sajid Mir was deceased, but it was only under intense international pressure that they 'brought' him back from the dead and detained him. This is one of the most cynically cynical pieces of theater of Pakistan acting to protect terrorists," Misri stated.
The Foreign Secretary also described the attack on Pahalgam as a premeditated act by Pakistan-based elements to disrupt the region's increasing peace and prosperity.
More than 23 million tourists had visited Jammu and Kashmir in the previous year alone. That tourism boom was separatists' worst nightmare, so they have hatched this sinister attack to upset the applecart," Misri said.
He also pointed out the general outrage following the attack, not only in Jammu and Kashmir but even in India. Misri admitted that although India had first sought to settle the issue diplomatically, the nation had finally used armed force to denounce Pakistan.
"Through conducting Operation Sindoor, India has served notice that it is determined in its quest to uproot terrorism—rightly, effectively, and firmly," Misri concluded.
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