PM Modi denies foreign pressure to stop Operation Sindoor offensive

Rejecting Opposition criticism that he succumbed to US President Donald Trump’s pressure to call off India’s offensive against Pakistan on May 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted in the Lok Sabha that no leader of any country asked New Delhi to stop Operation Sindoor. He said that Pakistan, despite having an inkling of India’s response to the terror attack, could do little when India’s armed forces destroyed terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan within 22 minutes on the intervening night of May 6 and 7 to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

 

In his 100-minute speech in the Lok Sabha on the “special discussion on India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor”, the PM said India’s strong action against terror has spurred the “Sindoor spirit” across the country, a spirit that was also on display when Indian delegations visited world capitals to put forth the country’s case. He said the delegations performed their task creditably.

 

Alluding to the Congress not fielding its MPs Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Amar Singh, who were part of the delegations, during the discussion, Modi said he is surprised that the Congress has banned some of its leaders from speaking in the House as the Lok Sabha TV cut away from the PM to show Tharoor.

 

Earlier in the day, in a social media post, Tewari quoted lines from the song ‘Bharat ka rehne wala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon’ from Manoj Kumar-starrer 1970 movie “Purab aur Pashchim” as his reaction to media reports on being “benched” by his party during the discussion on Operation Sindoor. Asked about his post, Tewari told reporters on Parliament House premises, “There is a saying in English – if you don’t understand my silence, you will never understand my words.”

 

Coincidentally, the PM opened and ended his speech by saying that he has put forth “Bharat’s perspective” on Operation Sindoor. In his stinging attack on the Congress, and the past “blunders” by Congress governments, including first PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s in signing the Indus Water Treaty, the PM said that the Congress “now operates through the remote control of Pakistan”. “Out of desperation, the Congress even questioned the timing of Operation Mahadev that eliminated the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack on Monday,” he said.

 

On questions that Operation Sindoor was called off because of US pressure, Modi told the House that on May 9 night, "US Vice President (J D Vance) tried to reach out to me three-four times, but I was busy with meetings with the armed forces". "When I returned the call, the US Vice President warned me of a big attack from Pakistan. I told him that if Pakistan attacks India, our attack would be much bigger as we will respond to bullets with cannons," he said. The PM said Pakistani airbases hit by India "are still in ICU" and the masterminds of the April 22 terror attack continue to have sleepless nights.

 

Modi noted that Pakistan had some inkling of Indian action and had started issuing nuclear threats, but could do nothing when terror targets were hit. “The Congress and its allies have unfortunately become spokespersons for Pakistani propaganda. India is becoming self-reliant, but Congress is now dependent on Pakistan for issues. The entire country is amazed to see Congress give a clean chit to Pakistan and sing the same tune as theirs,” Modi said. He urged leaders in the Congress to stop issuing “clean chits to Pakistan” under “one family’s pressure”. “We have complete trust in the capabilities of our armed forces and they were given a free hand to respond. The armed forces taught them such a lesson that the masters of terrorism are still losing their sleep over it,” he added.

 

“No country in the world has stopped India from any action in its defence against terrorism. Only three countries spoke in favour of Pakistan at the United Nations (UN),” he said, adding: “India got support from the entire world, but it is unfortunate that the Congress did not support the valour of our soldiers. Congress leaders targeted me for political gains, but their frivolous statements ended up discouraging our brave soldiers.” The PM noted that India called out Pakistan's nuclear bluff and showed the world that "we will not bow down to nuclear blackmail".

 

In his intervention, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the government lacked the political will to support the Indian armed forces. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's statements made on Monday laid bare how the government revealed sensitive details about Operation Sindoor to Pakistan. “Rajnath Singh said Operation Sindoor began at 1.05 am and that by 1.35 am, India had already called Pakistan to inform them that we had hit non-military targets and that we did not want escalation,” Gandhi said.

 

He alleged that the government did not give full freedom of operation and manoeuvrability to the defence forces. The Congress leader claimed that the Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) was instructed by the government to seek a ceasefire just 30 minutes after the launch of the operation. “At 1.35 in the night, you told Pakistan exactly what you were going to do — that we will not hit military targets, that we don't want escalation,” Gandhi said. "You directly told Pakistan your political will, that you do not want to fight," he alleged. "You attacked Pakistan and simultaneously told them we are not going to hit your army or air defence systems. That is not freedom of manoeuvre; that is surrender."

 

Gandhi also claimed that the loss of Indian aircraft during the operation was due to political constraints, not military shortcomings. "The aircraft were lost because the political leadership had tied the hands of the armed forces by deciding to not attack military and air defence infrastructure in Pakistan," he said.

 

Opening the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, the defence minister said if Pakistan cannot take action against terrorism on its soil, India is ready to help the neighbouring country as Indian forces are capable of fighting terror on the other side of the border as well.

 

In the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Home Minister Amit Shah talked about Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and even her mother's tears in Lok Sabha but did not answer "why the war" against Pakistan was halted.

 

In his intervention in the Lok Sabha, the home minister said three of the terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam massacre have been eliminated by security forces in a joint operation by the Army, CRPF, and Jammu and Kashmir Police near Srinagar. Indian agencies have "ample" evidence to say that these were Pakistani terrorists affiliated to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Shah told the House.

 

In the Rajya Sabha, which took up the discussion on the subject on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said Shah must take responsibility for the "security lapse" that led to the Pahalgam terror attack, demanding that accountability be fixed and "whosoever is responsible quit".

 

In the Lok Sabha, Independent MP from Baramulla (Jammu and Kashmir) Sheikh Abdul Rashid said the Pahalgam attack was a blot on humanity. Rashid said the government's claim that everything is normal in the Valley is confined to social media only. "We are tired of carrying dead bodies," he said. Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal said, "If we can play cricket with Pakistan, why can't Diljit Dosanjh's movie be released in India?” Dosanjh had defended his decision to release “Sardaar Ji 3” in overseas territories amid controversy over the casting of a Pakistani actor in the movie.