'India exercised its right': Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri says Operation Sindoor was result of Pakistan's failure to act against terrorists

India on Wednesday justified Operation Sindoor, stating that Pakistan failed to act against the perpetrators of Pahalgam terror attack. The airstrikes were a "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible" answer to Pakistan's support of cross-border terrorism.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said terrorists linked to LeT and Pakistan carried out savage attack on 26 people, including a Nepali citizen. "Victims were mostly shot in the head at close range. The manner of attack was also driven by an objective of communal discord but these designs were foiled," he said.

Col. Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh were present at the press briefing.

He said Lashkar-e-Taiba is operating in India through proxy groups like The Resistance Front. It is notable that India had given inputs about the TRF to the UN monitoring team earlier, he added. In December 2023, India had informed the UN panel that LeT and JeM operating through groups like TRF, according to Misri

Misri pointed out that communication notes in and to Pakistan have been revealed. "On April 25, Pakistan's pressure to remove the reference to TRF from the media release shouldn't be ignored. The Pahalgam terrorist attack has exposed the links of Pakistan with terrorists," Misri said.

Misri said the Indian intelligence identified those involved and planners of Pahalgam attack. "This morning, India exercised its right to dismantle terror infrastructure," he added.

"India exercised its right to respond to deter such more cross-border terrorism... Our actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists' infrastructure," he added

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