NEW DELHI: Justifying ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Foreign Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, stated that terror outfit centres were targeted because Pakistan had failed to act against the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack. He described the airstrikes as “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible,” and said they were a response to Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism.
Speaking at a media briefing following Operation Sindoor, Misri said that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operates in India through proxy groups such as The Resistance Front (TRF), and noted that India had previously shared information about the outfit with the UN monitoring team. In December 2023, India informed the UN panel that LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were functioning through front organisations like TRF, he added.
“On 25 April, Pakistan’s attempt to pressure the removal of the TRF reference from the media release should not be ignored. The Pahalgam terror attack has exposed Pakistan’s links to these terrorist groups,” the Foreign Secretary said.
Misri explained that terrorists connected to LeT and based in Pakistan had carried out a brutal attack on 22 April in Pahalgam, in which 26 people, including a Nepali citizen, were killed. “Victims were mostly shot in the head at close range. The manner of the attack was clearly intended to incite communal discord, but these efforts were thwarted,” he said.
Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh were also present at the press briefing.
Misri confirmed that Indian intelligence had identified the individuals involved in the planning and execution of the Pahalgam attack. “This morning, India exercised its right to dismantle terror infrastructure,” he said.
“India exercised its right to respond, to deter further acts of cross-border terrorism. Our actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They specifically targeted terrorist infrastructure,” Misri reiterated.