Embassy of India responds

I am constrained to express my deep concern on the opinion piece written by Ms. Asima Rabbani on May 15, 2025, which is highly inaccurate and misleading. It presents a distorted and factually incorrect narrative regarding “Operation Sindoor.” There is a deliberate attempt to distort facts, misinforming the international community and the people of the Philippines.

The recent events were triggered by the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in India on April 22, 2025, in which 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national were killed by terrorists in front of their families and their children on the basis of their religion, in a gruesome face of terror and cruelty. A group calling itself “The Resistance Front” claimed responsibility for the attack. This group is a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Armed Forces launched coordinated and precision strikes on nine terrorist infrastructure, including in Bahawalpur, Muridke and Muzaffarabad, which are known and notorious centers of cross-border terrorism.

The operation was precise, proportionate and restrained, focusing exclusively on key command centers of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for major attacks on Indian civilian and security forces like Pulwama (2019) and Mumbai (2008), Uri Army Camp (2016) and Pathankot Airbase (2016).

Moreover, after the strikes, the Director General of Military Operations of India had informed the Pakistani counterpart about targeting of terrorist infrastructure. The operation was successful in destroying the targeted terrorist headquarters, killing more than 100 dreaded terrorists. These terrorists were linked to terrorist attacks on India.

Operation Sindoor once again exposed Pakistan’s state support to terrorism when top Pakistani army officers and senior representatives of government came to bid farewell to the slain terrorists. India waited patiently for two weeks for Pakistan to take action against the terrorists who committed the Pahalgam massacre and “bring them to justice.”

However, what it encountered instead from Pakistan was not only a state of denial but ludicrous attempts to suggest a “false-flag” operation. In response to India’s targeted, measured and responsible strike on terror infrastructure, Pakistan decided to attack India.

Pakistan escalated and launched attacks on India on May 8-9 targeting places of worship (Gurudwaras, temples, convents), houses of civilians as also military installations. On the morning of May 10, Pakistan attempted attacks at 26 places in India with heavy caliber weapons. This was accompanied by Ceasefire Violations at the Line of Control (LoC) and International Boundary (IB) through the use of heavy mortar shelling.

Therefore, in the early morning of May 10, Indian armed forces responded appropriately to Pakistan’s enhanced aggression. Having suffered heavy losses, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) approached his Indian counterpart in the afternoon of May 10 requesting an immediate cessation of firing and military activities in land, air and naval domains wef 1700 hrs IST of May 10, 2025.

Ms. Rabbani’s article is a misguided attempt to create a false narrative of the recent military engagement. Pakistan’s claims of inflicting any significant damage on Indian military assets are completely false. Operation Sindoor, India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack, was principled, calibrated and carried out with a strategic precision. It carved out a new benchmark in our fight against terrorism and set a new normal. If there is any terrorist attack on India, a fitting reply will be given on India’s terms. – C. KANNAN, Counsellor, Embassy of India in Manila