'Pakistan was lucky Indian Navy did not display its full power': Rajnath Singh's fierce warning to Islamabad
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing naval personnel aboard aircraft carrier INS Vikrant off the coast of Goa on Friday, hailed the Indian Navy’s preparedness and contribution during the recent military response to the Pahalgam terror attack, 'Operation Sindoor’.
Calling INS Vikrant “the pride of India's maritime power,” Singh said, “As long as the security of our maritime borders is in your strong hands, no one can look at India with a suspicious eye.”
Thanking the Indian Navy for its role in the recent military conflict, Singh said, “Today I have come here not only as the defence minister, but I have come here as a grateful Indian. I have come to salute your dedication, appreciate your valour and salute your hard work.”
He commended the Navy’s forward deployment, precision missile strikes, and dominance at sea during Operation Sindoor. “Our aggressive maritime posture confined the Pakistani Navy to its shores,” he said. “You didn’t need to act—the enemy was stunned just by your preparation.”
“Our Western Fleet ships deployed at sea, within 96 hours of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, carried out successful firings of surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes on the western and eastern coast. It demonstrated the combat readiness of our platforms, systems and crew and our intent and readiness, forcing the enemy to come into a defensive posture,” Singh said.
He noted that Operation Sindoor is not over and that this is just a pause, a warning. Singh warned that "if Pakistan dares to repeat its mistake, only god knows what will happen next time. Operation Sindoor is not over—this is just a pause, a warning."
Pointing out that the precision strikes displayed seamless synergy among the three Services, he said the operation sent a clear message to the terrorists and its patrons that India would no longer tolerate and give a befitting reply. “Within a very short span of time, we destroyed Pakistan's terrorist base and its intentions. Our response was so strong that Pakistan pleaded to stop. We stopped our military actions on our own terms. Our forces had not even started showing their might.”
Referring to past conflicts, he said Pakistan was lucky the Indian Navy didn’t enter full combat during the latest mission. “If the Navy had joined the attack, Pakistan wouldn’t just be divided in two—it could have been four.”
The minister also called on Pakistan to dismantle terror networks on its soil and hand over UN-designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar. “Justice must be done for crimes like the Mumbai attacks,” he said.
He ended his speech by affirming the government's full support to the armed forces, saying: “Whatever has happened till now was just a warm-up.”
Onboard INS Vikrant, Singh was accompanied by the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Sanjay J. Singh and other senior officials of the Indian Navy.
Defence