New Delhi:
India has responded in a “controlled, precise, measured, considered and non-escalatory” manner to the Pahalgam terror attack – the “original escalation” – that killed 26 tourists, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in Delhi today while briefing them about the Pakistani drone and missile attacks in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
India’s intention was not to escalate matters, but was only responding to the escalation, Mr Misri said.
“Pakistan escalated on April 22, we are only responding to escalation. If [there’s] further escalation, the response will be in the appropriate domain,” Mr Misri added.
India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, claimed by the terrorist group The Resistance Front (TRF), came in the form of 24 precision missile strikes at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The attack targeted camps affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
However, the role of the Pakistani army in supporting terrorists to launch attacks against India became even more evident on Wednesday when they stood up in defence of terror infrastructure hit by the Indian missiles.
Mr Misri also pointed out that Pakistan opposed the role of the TRF in the Pahalgam terror attack, despite the terrorist group itself claiming responsibility for it.
“This is after TRF claimed responsibility for the attack not once, but twice… Colonel Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh clearly said yesterday as well as today, that India’s response is non-escalatory, precise, and measured. Our intention is not to escalate matters and we are only responding to the escalation. No military targets have been targeted; only terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan has been hit,” Mr Misri said.
He drew attention to Pakistan’s reputation as the epicentre of global terrorism.
“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,” Mr Misri said.
“It’s also odd that funerals of civilians are being carried out by coffins wrapped in their national flag, and state honours are being awarded,” he added.
The government earlier today said Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western Indian cities including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles.
These were intercepted 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.
India also targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an air defence system in Lahore was destroyed, the government said.
