Washington DC [US], May 8 : India's Ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, defended the country's recent cross-border strikes, stating they were a direct response to a deadly terror attack carried out by terrorists in Pahalgam on April 22.
Speaking about Operation Sindoor, Kwatra emphasised that the operation was carefully calibrated to avoid military and economic targets, underscoring that the strikes were aimed solely at dismantling terror networks.
Accusing the country of siding with terrorists, Kwatra said that "Pakistan has again decided to stand with the terrorists... rather than acting against them, they are lending support."
In an interview with CNN, Kwatra said, "When you talk of tensions or when you talk of escalations, I would say that the original escalation happened on April 22, when you had four terrorists backed by Pakistan carry out brutal killings... What we did yesterday was our response to terror... We took out terror factories at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir... We were very careful in excluding the military establishment and economic infrastructure."
He added, "Pakistan has again decided to side with the terrorists. Rather than taking action against them, they are essentially lending them support... They are with the terrorists"
Kwatra said that Pakistan is not with the rest of the civilised world, and Pakistan's belief lies in perpetrating these proxies of terror.
Indian Armed Forces on Wednesday launched 'Operation Sindoor', carrying out precision strikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), days after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people on April 22.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the Pahalgam terror attack was "original escalation" by Pakistan and India responded in "controlled, precise, measured, considered and non-escalatory" manner through precise strikes on terror infrastructure early on Wednesday.
Addressing a joint press conference on Thursday, Misri said that India's intention is not to escalate matters and is only responding to the escalation.
"Pakistan escalated on April 22, we are only responding to escalation. If further escalation, the response will be in the appropriate domain," Misri said.
He said when talks were going on about the Pahalgam at the UNSC, Pakistan opposed the role of TRF (The Resistance Front). "This is after TRF claimed the responsibility of the attack not once, but twice... Col 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," Misri said.
The Foreign Secretary said Pakistan's reputation as the epicentre of global terrorism is rooted in a number of instances.
"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," he 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.