Amid continued volatility along the Line of Control, the government reaffirmed that any provocation will be met with a firm yet proportionate response to safeguard India’s sovereignty and national security
Published May 08, 2025 | 9:02 PM ⚊ Updated May 08, 2025 | 9:48 PM
MEA briefing details India’s military response in Operation Sindoor
Synopsis: The MEA, in a special briefing, called the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack the first escalation in India-Pakistan tensions. India’s Operation Sindoor targeted terror infrastructure with restraint, following Pakistan’s drone and missile strikes. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi outlined India’s defensive actions against what they described as Pakistan’s unprovoked aggression
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a high-level special media briefing on Thursday, termed the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam as the initial act of escalation in the latest round of India-Pakistan hostilities.
The government detailed its military response under Operation Sindoor, asserting that India had acted with restraint and precision in targeting terrorist infrastructure across the border, even as Pakistan launched drone and missile strikes on Indian military facilities.
The press briefing featured Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who jointly addressed the media and laid out India’s sequence of actions in response to what was described as “unprovoked aggression” by Pakistan.
“The barbaric Pahalgam attack was the first escalation,” declared Foreign Secretary Misri, referring to the 22 April assault by terrorist group The Resistance Front (TRF) that left 26 civilians dead.
“This is where the current series of events began.” He noted that TRF had publicly claimed responsibility for the attack not once but twice, yet Pakistan continued to object to the group being named in official discussions, including during deliberations at the United Nations Security Council.
India had already reported the TRF to the UN in earlier communications, Misri added, emphasizing the government’s repeated warnings about Pakistan’s support for proxy terror outfits.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh confirmed that in the early hours of 8 May, Pakistan launched drone and missile attacks targeting multiple military facilities across northern and western India.
The affected locations included Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.
“These attacks were intercepted and neutralised by our Integrated Counter-UAS Grid and Air Defence systems,” Singh said.
“We are currently recovering debris from several sites, which clearly indicates Pakistani origin and involvement.”
She added that the attempted strikes represented a major escalation in the conflict, prompting India to take calibrated military action in response.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi reiterated India’s position that its military response remained “focused, measured, and non-escalatory.”
She confirmed that Indian Armed Forces had targeted specific air defence installations within Pakistan, including a radar facility near Lahore, as part of Operation Sindoor.
“This was not a broad offensive,” she clarified. “Military establishments were not targeted initially, but we reserve the right to respond to any future provocation appropriately.”
Foreign Secretary Misri echoed this view, emphasizing that India’s operations were designed to degrade terrorist infrastructure, not to inflame conflict. “Our actions are based on the principle of proportionality. We have not sought to escalate but to defend our sovereignty and protect civilian lives,” he said.
In a somber update, Wing Commander Singh reported that Pakistan’s unprovoked artillery and mortar fire across the Line of Control (LoC) had killed 16 Indian civilians, including three women and five children.
Another 59 were injured in targeted shelling across Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar, and Rajouri sectors in Jammu and Kashmir.
“India was compelled to respond in order to halt this barrage of fire,” she said, adding that Indian forces had refrained from retaliatory strikes that could escalate the situation further.
“The Armed Forces remain committed to non-escalation — provided that principle is reciprocated by Pakistan.”
Responding to accusations from Islamabad that India had targeted religious sites, Foreign Secretary Misri strongly denied the claims and instead pointed to evidence of Pakistani forces hitting a Sikh gurdwara in Poonch.
“This attack on a place of worship is not only tragic but reveals the true nature of Pakistan’s campaign,” Misri said. “Three members of the Sikh community were killed in the assault. If anything, India has consistently refrained from targeting civilian structures.”
He also raised questions about the nature of casualties reported by Pakistan, noting that those being given state funerals and buried with national flags were unlikely to be ordinary civilians.
“It is telling that these so-called ‘civilians’ are being honoured with full military protocol,” he remarked.
As tensions remained high along the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a crucial meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi.
The timing of the meeting, held a day after Operation Sindoor was launched, underscored India’s effort to reassure international partners that it does not seek to escalate the situation unnecessarily.
In a statement after the meeting, Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s stance: “We have no intention to escalate the conflict. However, any attack on Indian soil will be met with a firm and resolute response.”
As the situation along the Line of Control remains volatile, the government’s message was clear: India will not tolerate attacks on its sovereignty and will respond decisively — but proportionately — when provoked.
(Compiled by Ananya Rao)
