WATCH: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lauds 'Operation Sindoor', highlights the danger of Pakistani terror camps

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday showered praise on 'Operation Sindoor', conducted jointly between the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. The crucially-timed operation saw precision strikes wipe out 70 terrorists across nine camps in Pakistan and PoK in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Addressing the Border Roads Organisation's Raising Day ceremony at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi, Rajnath Singh reminded the public that the original plan had been to hit only terrorist bases in Pakistan, and not civilians or the military, Singh explained that the entire operation had gone according to plan.

He also added that the decision to leave Pakistani civilians and the military alone were a sign of India's “sensitivity”.

“The army has shown a unique precision, precaution and compassion, for which I thank our soldiers and officers on behalf of the whole country,” he said on his official X handle.

Making a reference to Hindu mythology about the auspiciousness of India's calculated restraint in the strikes, he congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to support the army.

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Singh also highlighted that the attacked camps recruited and trained people to rise to the call of terrorism, as a result of which India's retaliatory strikes were well within its “right to respond” to the attack on its soil. He added that the aim was to break the morale of those terrorist elements.

A statement from the PMO in Pakistan, however, dubbed the operation “unprovoked, cowardly and an unlawful act of war", and claimed that India's actions constituted acts of war under international laws. It also declared that the country would respond to 'Operation Sindoor' at a time, manner and place of their choosing.

India