Operation Sindoor LIVE: Talks with Pakistan can only happen on terror and return of PoK, says PM Modi

Tribune News Service

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India has avenged the barbaric faith-based killings in Pahalgam and every terrorist trained by Pakistan now knows the consequences of wiping off sindoor from the foreheads of our mothers and sisters.

Speaking for the first time since the launch of ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the aftermath of the killing of 26 tourists in the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, the Prime Minister made it clear that the only agendas remaining to be discussed with Pakistan are the return of PoK and the end of terrorism.

In a televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister said while Pakistan was attempting to attack the Indian borders, India attacked “its heart.”

Modi saluted the Indian Armed Forces, BSF and paramilitary and delivered a strong message to the world saying, “Our stated position has been that if a dialogue will happen with Pakistan it will only happen on terrorism and PoK.”

Describing the Pahalgam attack as dastardly and barbaric, the Prime Minister said Operation Sindoor was now India’s new normal in dealing with terrorism.

“Operation Sindoor has drawn a new line in the national response to terror, and framed a new normal. The first is if a terror attack is perpetrated on India, we will give a befitting answer in our own way on our own conditions. We will strike at the roots of terrorism wherever these are. Two, no form of nuclear blackmail will be tolerated. We will attack terror hubs patronised in the name of nuclear arms. Three, we will not differentiate between a government that patronises terror and organisations that perpetrate and train terrorists,” said Prime Minister Modi.

He said during Operation Sindoor, the world has seen the sordid truth of Pakistan when top Pakistan Army officers attended the funeral of dreaded terrorists.

“This is massive evidence of state-sponsored terrorism. We will constantly keep taking decisive actions to safeguard our people. We have always defeated Pakistan in the battleground and this time Operation Sindoor has added a new dimension,” the Prime Minister said, lauding the dominance of Indian defences.

The Prime Minister also said that across deserts and mountains Indian Forces displayed their capacity and proved their superiority in new age warfare.

“Our made-in-India weapons efficacy was proved in this. The world is watching that in the 21^s- century warfare, time has come for made-in-India war equipment to be used,” said Modi.
He underlined that national unity was India’s biggest strength in the face of terrorism and repeated his famous phrase—“This era is not the era of war.”

Modi, however, added, “This era is also not an era of terrorism. Zero tolerance towards terrorism is a guarantee for a better world.”

In a message to Pakistan, he said Pakistan would have to dismantle terror infrastructure within for its own survival.
“There is no other path to peace,” Modi said, reiterating the broad framework for the Indian position on talks with Pakistan.

“The Indian position is absolutely clear—terror and talks cannot go together; terror and trade cannot go together; blood and water cannot flow together,” Modi said, choosing to speak to the country on Buddha Purnima and noting that the path to peace goes through the path of strength.

“For Indians to live in peace and to realise the Viksit Bharat goal we have to be strong and we have to demonstrate that strength. That is what we have just done,” he noted, adding that Indian soldiers have displayed exceptional bravery to achieve the objectives of Operation Sindoor.

The Prime Minister dedicated the courage of soldiers to mothers and sisters and said, “On April 22, the barbaric terrorists displayed in Pahalgam shocked India and the world. Innocent defenceless people on holidays were mercilessly killed in front of their families, their children on the basis of their faith. This was the most horrendous face of terrorism. It was also a horrible attempt to disturb communal harmony.”

Modi said the trauma was too big for him personally and Operation Sindoor was his eternal pledge for justice.

Hailing the unity of the country, every segment, all political parties displayed in seeking this justice Modi said full operational freedom was given to Indian military to raze terrorists to the ground and today every terrorist, every terrorist organisation has realised the consequences of wiping off sindoor from the foreheads of sisters and mothers.

“Operation Sindoor is not just a name. It is an expression of collective national sentiments.
Operation Sindoor is the immortal pledge of justice,” the Prime Minister said.

On the events of Operation Sindoor, Modi said between May 6 and 7, the whole world watched this pledge transform into outcomes. “The Indian military carried out precision strikes on terror hubs, training centres. Terrorists had never in dreams imagined India could take such a big decision but when the nation unites valourous decisions are taken, results are delivered,” he said.

The Prime Minister said when Indian missiles, drones attacked terror organisations in Pakistan, not just terror infra but the morale of terrorists was also shaken.

“Terror hubs like Bahawalpur and Muridke have in a way been universities of global terrorism. The threads of all major terror attacks worldwide—the 9/11, London Tube bombing and terror attacks in India—have somewhere been found linked to these hubs,” he said, adding that terrorists wiped out sindoor of India’s sisters and mothers which is why India razed terror hubs and HQs to the ground.

The Prime Minister said over 100 dreaded terrorists had been killed in precision strikes by the Indian military. “Many patrons of terror for the past two-and-a-half decades were openly roaming in Pakistan and conspiring against India. They have been all annihilated in one go,” said the Prime Minister.
On the sequence of events leading to the pause of hostilities the Prime Minister said Pakistan was deeply frustrated with Indian strikes, and was rattled.

“It thus crossed another line. Instead of backing India in the strikes against terror infra, Pakistan began attacking us. Pakistan attacked our schools, colleges, gurdwaras, temples, civilian houses. Pakistan targeted our military bases but it was exposed in its designs. The world witnessed how Pakistani drones, missiles fell in the face of a strong Indian air defence system. The system destroyed them in the skies,” the Prime Minister said.

He said Indian drones, missiles conducted precision strikes and Pakistan Air Force bases were destroyed.

“India heaped unimaginable destruction on Pakistan in the first three days of Operation Sindoor. After India’s offensive posture Pakistan started looking for escape routes. It was appealing to the world for tensions to ease. And on May 10 afternoon, the Pakistani Army contacted our DGMO. Till then we had destroyed terror infra on a large scale and annihilated terrorists,” the Prime Minister said.

He said the Indian Armed Forces had converted terror hubs located in the heart of Pakistan into ruins.

“When Pakistan pleaded, when it said there will be no terror activity and military misadventures, India considered their offer. I, however, reiterate that our national response to Pakistan assaults has only been paused. In the coming times we will hold Pakistan accountable to its word, on what it does,” the Prime Minister said, adding that after surgical and airstrikes, Operation Sindoor is the new Indian policy on terror.

India