New Delhi [India], May 7 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday lauded the government for not allowing Pakistan to expand the conflict since the precision strikes were aimed at identified terrorist bases and launchpads. He said the places mentioned in the press briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had a history of hosting terrorist organisations.
"The government has taken care not to give the other side an opportunity to expand the conflict in the sense that they have only attacked identified terror bases and launchpads. The places mentioned in the (defence) briefing have been known to host terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen. We have really got a very responsible and thought-through approach in attacking these places," Tharoor told ANI.
He further added that the minimum collateral damage for civilian amid the launch of Operation Sindoor clears India's stand that it wanted to dismantle the terror infrastructure and not "kill individuals".
"Attacking at night also minimises collateral damage for civilians. Even the Pakistanis have only claimed three civilians have been killed, which shows that we were dismantling the terror infrastructure and we were not interested in killing individuals," Tharoor said.
The Congress MP said that precision strikes carried out by the Indian Army were a "fitting reply" to the terror attack, as it was essential to shatter the illusion of impunity that terrorists thought they enjoyed.
"This is exactly what I thought the government should do, and they have done that. There is no question in my mind that we have to give a fitting response to the terror attack. Terrorists had to be taught that there was a price to be paid. The impunity they believed they enjoyed would have only emboldened them to continue with further attacks. It was essential to give them such a response. There were diplomatic measures, but what the government has done today is a fitting response," Tharoor said.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh who briefed the media along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Col Sofiya Qureshi said that the 'Operation Sindoor' was launched to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families.
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian Armed Forces launched a strike at the terror hideouts deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir under 'Operation Sindoor' on Wednesday morning.
Singh informed that a total of nine terror sites were targetted and successfully destroyed. She asserted that the locations were selected so that there was no damage to civilians and their infrastructures.
"Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and successfully destroyed... The locations were so selected to avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives", Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said.
Meanwhile, during the press briefing, Col Sofiya Qureshi presented the videos of destruction of terror camps, including from the Muridke and where David Headley and Ajmal Kasab, perpetrators of 2008 Mumbai attacks received training. Other than Muridke, Sarjal camp in Sialkot, Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala and Markaz Abbas, Kotli and Mehmoona Joya camp, Sialkot were targeted in the strikes conducted by the Indian Army, Col Qureshi informed.
The Foreign Secretary said that the attack on Pahalgam was driven by an objective of undermining the return of mormalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.
India has carried out its deepest strikes inside Pakistan's undisputed territory since 1971, successfully targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This marks New Delhi's most significant military action within Pakistani territory in over five decades.