Operation Sindoor: Will not tolerate nuclear blackmail, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening laid out the three key tenets of India’s new doctrine to counter terrorism, stating that Operation Sindoor has set a new benchmark, and is the “new normal”.

 

Fifty-one hours after India and Pakistan reached an “understanding” to “stop all firing and military action” with effect from 5 pm on Saturday, the PM addressed the nation to acknowledge and salute the bravery of India’s defence forces and the ingenuity of its scientists, and said India proved its “superiority in new-age warfare”, and the “credibility” of “made-in-India weapons”. He specifically mentioned that India had “displayed” its “capabilities in the deserts and mountains”, a reference to the strikes on military sites in the heart of Pakistan.

 

 

Detailing the three maxims of the Operation Sindoor doctrine, which he said had only been paused, Modi said that India would first give a befitting response to a terrorist attack on its terms and take strict action at every place from where the roots of terrorism emerge. Second, he said, India would not tolerate any nuclear blackmail. “India will strike precisely and decisively at the terrorist hideouts developing under the cover of nuclear blackmail,” the PM said. 

 

Modi said the third precept of the doctrine, alluding to the Pakistani state and military sponsoring terrorism over decades, is that India “will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism”. “During Operation Sindoor, the world has again seen the ugly face of Pakistan, when top Pakistani army officers came to bid farewell to the slain terrorists. This is strong evidence of state-sponsored terrorism. We will continue to take decisive steps to protect India and our citizens from any threat,” the PM said in his half-an-hour-long address in Hindi, where he said Operation Sindoor was a reflection of the feelings of millions of people of the country and “our unwavering commitment to justice”.

 

Hours before Modi’s address, the DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) -level talks between the two countries were held at 5 pm, after being originally scheduled for 12 noon on Monday. The army said issues related to continuing the commitment that both sides must not fire a single shot or initiate any aggressive and inimical action against each other were discussed. It was also agreed that both sides consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction from the borders and forward areas.

 

A small number of suspected drones were observed near Samba in J&K, and they were being engaged, said Indian Army sources.

 

In a reference to the Uri strike of 2016 and Balakot air strike of 2019, the PM said: “After the surgical strike and air strike, now Operation Sindoor is India's policy against terrorism.” He said the operation had “carved out a new benchmark in our fight against terrorism and has set up a new parameter and new normal”. 

 

 

Modi warned that the Pakistani army and its government’s encouragement to terrorism would “one day destroy Pakistan”, and Pakistan, if it has to survive, should destroy its terror infrastructure. “There is no other way to peace,” the PM said, stressing that India's stand is very clear. “Terror and talks cannot go together. Terror and trade cannot go together. Water and blood cannot flow together,” he said — the last reference being to the Indus Waters Treaty, which India suspended on April 23, a day after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam.

 

The PM said he would like to tell the global community that our stated policy had been: “If there are talks with Pakistan, they will be only on terrorism; and if there are talks with Pakistan, they will be only on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).” While the PM didn’t mention the US offer to mediate between the two neighbours, it was probably a reference to it.

 

Modi detailed India’s military operation that began at 1.05 am on May 7, where Indian forces attacked terror hideouts in Pakistan and their training centres with precision, including terrorist bases, such as Bahawalpur and Muridke, which are “universities of global terrorism”. He said terror attacks, including 9/11, the London Tube bombings, or the big terror attacks that had taken place in India had their roots in these terrorist hideouts.

 

The PM said India killed more than 100 dreaded terrorists, including terrorist masterminds, in one fell swoop. He said Pakistan was deeply disappointed, frustrated and resorted to cowardice in its bewilderment at India’s attack on terror infrastructure. “Instead of supporting India's strike against terrorism, Pakistan started attacking” and targeting India’s schools, colleges, Gurudwaras, temples, and houses of civilians, and also military bases.

 

Modi said Pakistan got exposed in its efforts as the world saw how its drones and missiles fell like straws as India's strong air defence system destroyed them in the sky itself. The PM said Pakistan had prepared for an attack on the border, but India struck at the heart of Pakistan with its drones and missiles damaging, with precision, air bases of the Pakistani Air Force, of which that country was very proud.

 

The Indian attack caused heavy damage that Pakistan had never imagined even in its worst nightmares and “started looking for ways to escape”, the PM said. He said Islamabad pleaded to the world to ease tensions, and Pakistan's army contacted India’s DGMO on the afternoon of May 10. 

Explaining why India agreed to the understanding reached between the two DGMOs, the PM said that by then India’s military had destroyed the infrastructure of terrorism established in the heart of Pakistan on a large scale and eliminated terrorists. “So, when Pakistan appealed and said it would not indulge in any sort of terror activities or military audacity further, India considered it,” he said.

 

However, the PM warned that India had only suspended its retaliatory action against Pakistan's terror and military camps. “In the coming days, we will measure every step of Pakistan on the criterion of what sort of attitude Pakistan will adopt ahead,” the PM said. He said India’s armed forces, Border Security Force and its paramilitary forces, were constantly on alert.

 

The PM said the murder of people in front of their families and children on the basis of their religion in Pahalgam was a disgusting attempt to break the harmony and unity of the country and very painful for him personally. He acknowledged the unity in the country, including of every citizen, every community, every class and, every political party.

 

Modi concluded his speech by mentioning “today is Buddha Purnima. While Lord Buddha has shown us the path of peace, it also goes through power”. It is essential for India to be powerful to achieve ‘Viksit Bharat’ where every Indian lives in peace, he said.

 

Earlier in the day, at a press conference, Indian armed forces underscored that all the country’s military bases and systems remained fully operational and ready to undertake any further missions, adding that indigenous air defence systems had exhibited stellar performance during Operation Sindoor. 

What Modi said

 

On water-sharing, trade, and talks with Pak

India’s stand is very clear: Terror and talks cannot go together; terror and trade cannot go together; water and blood cannot flow together

 

On war and terrorism

This is certainly not the era of war, but this is also not the era of terrorism 

 

On future punitive action

We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism

 

On made-in-India defence equipment

Today the world is witnessing that in the 21st century warfare, the time has come for made-in-India defence equipment