The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday reiterated India's stance of non-escalation, stressing that the armed forces have so far only responded to escalation from Pakistan.
Speaking at a special media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stressed that Operation Sindoor was not an escalation from the part of India, but a response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which should be considered the real and first escalation.
India will respond decisively if Pakistan continues to escalate tensions, Misri said, adding that the “choice is entirely Pakistan’s to make.”
“If there is an attempt at further escalation by Pakistan, it will be responded to in an appropriate domain,” he said.
Misri dismissed Islamabad’s claims of downing Indian jets and targeting the Neelum-Jhelum dam in PoJK as “fabricated” and “blatant lies,” adding that India’s operations only targeted terror infrastructure.
Criticising Pakistan for giving state honours to slain terrorists, Misri said, “Giving terrorists state funerals may be a practice in Pakistan, but it doesn’t make sense to us.”
Rejecting Pakistan’s claims that India had deliberately targeted religious sites, Misri called them “completely false.”
“The targets were only locations related to cross-border terrorism in India,” he said. Misri asserted that it is Pakistan that uses religious sites to radicalise and train terrorists.
He added, “Contrary to what it is claiming, yesterday Pakistan launched a targeted attack on the Sikh community in Poonch of J&K,” referring to the strike that killed three civilians and hit a gurdwara.
Misri reaffirmed Pakistan’s image as the “epicentre of global terrorism,” citing its sheltering of UN-proscribed terrorists and past statements by its own ministers.
"I don't need to remind where Osama Bin Laden was found and who called him a martyr...Pakistan is also home to a large number of UN proscribed terrorists and also to terrorists proscribed by many countries. You must have seen in the last few days, their Defence minister and former foreign minister accepted their country's involvement with such terror groups."
Misri also said the Indus Waters Treaty is no longer suited to current realities and needs modification.
“There has been a fundamental change in the circumstances in which the treaty was concluded,” he said, adding that India has sought talks with Pakistan for over two years to revise it.
Misri said India honoured the treaty for 65 years, even during wars, while Pakistan violated it by blocking India’s legitimate use of the Western rivers. “This treaty was based on 1950s and 60s engineering. Today’s technological advances must be considered,” he added.
Commenting on India's latest air strikes that destroyed Pakistan's air defence system in Lahore, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said that the armed forces were forced to respond to the neighbouring country's missile strikes on several military targets in northern and western India.
"On the night of 07-08 May 2025, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks," Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said.
Reiterating India's stance on non-escalation, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said, "India was compelled to respond to bring Mortar and Artillery fire from Pakistan to a halt. Indian Armed Forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is respected by the Pakistani military."