Pahalgam-Op Sindoor debate
New Delhi: The government on Monday asserted that it can go to any extent to uproot terrorism and warned that Operation Sindoor launched to target terror sites in Pakistan is on pause as the armed forces achieved the desired objectives, but could resume in case of any misadventure by Islamabad.
Initiating the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh peppered his nearly hour-long speech with spiritual references to drive home the message that the new India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has learnt to respond in a language its adversary understands better.
“We have learnt from Lord Krishna that when the time comes, one must pick up the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ to defend dharma. After the 2006 Parliament attack and 2008 Mumbai attacks, we said ‘enough is enough’ and picked the Sudarshan Chakra,” Singh said.
Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also dismissed the claims made by the Congress and other opposition parties linking the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan to alleged mediation attempts by US President Donald Trump, who linked it to a trade deal.
Jaishankar asserted that at no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage of trade with halting of Operation Sindoor and said there was no call between Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump between April 22 and June 17.
The Opposition targeted the government on “security lapses” that led to the Pahalgam attack, asking Home Minister Amit Shah to take responsibility for it and also demanded answers on the number of Indian jets that were allegedly downed during Operation Sindoor.
“Trump has made the claim 26 times that he used the threat of trade to bring a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He says five to six jets have been downed. One jet is of crores (of rupees). That is why we want to know from the defence minister, the country has the courage to listen to the truth, he must answer as to how many fighter jets were downed,” Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of the Congress, said.
Home Minister Shah and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi are expected to be among the key speakers on Tuesday. There are indications that Prime Minister Modi will be the final speaker in the debate for which 16 hours have been allocated.
Singh said Pakistan used missiles, drones, rockets, including long-range rockets, among others, to target airports, military establishments and military cantonments.
“However, they failed to cause any damage to any establishment,” he said.
Gandhi sought to know from Singh why Operation Sindoor was halted.
“Aapne roki kyun (why did you halt),” asked Gandhi, a question that had ruling party members on their feet.
The minister said he had already spoken about it and the Leader of Opposition should listen to his speech.
“We targeted those who hurt us,” Singh said quoting the couplet “Jinh mohi maara, te mai maare” from Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas.
“Just as Lord Hanuman in Lanka strategised and struck only those who wronged him,” the defence minister said.
During the discussion, Singh referred to an analogy used by poet Goswami Tulsidas that love and enmity should be among equals.
“Love and enmity should be on the same level. If a lion kills a frog, it does not give a very good message. Our armed forces are lions,” Singh said.
He said India’s history has been known as an aggressor and has never usurped an inch of others’ land, and India knows that “war should be taken up against those who are on the same level as us”.
Singh asserted that India now believes in taking decisive action as peace overtures have not yielded desirable results.
“Today, dossiers have been replaced by decisive action. Today’s India thinks differently and acts differently. We believe that if the adversary uses terrorism as part of strategy and does not understand the language of peace, then standing firm and being decisive is the only option,” Singh said.
Jaishankar said the result of India’s diplomatic efforts post-Pahalgam attack was that only three out of 190 nations which are part of the UN opposed Operation Sindoor.
There was overwhelming support that the country which has been attacked has the right to defend itself, he said.
The external affairs minister said India’s military action against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack marked a “new normal” in combating cross-border terrorism with a five-point approach that included firm response to terrorist acts, not yielding to nuclear blackmail and blood and water cannot flow together.
Though a combative Jaishankar took on the previous Congress governments on a range of issues including on 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, policy on China as well as Pakistan, the major highlight of his nearly 40-minute address was his articulation of new normal in combating cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
