Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, July 28, informed the Lok Sabha that over 100 terrorists were eliminated in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22.
Speaking during a debate in the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Singh stated that the operation, carried out in May, targeted nine terror sites across the region. He emphasized that India had successfully met all its political and military objectives through the operation and had brought the military engagement to a conclusion on its own terms.
“India was under no pressure. We chose to end the military operation in May after achieving our strategic goals. Our Armed Forces took action and hit with precision the nine terrorist infra sites in which more than 100 terorrists, their trainers and handlers were targeted… The well-coordinated strikes carried out by our Armed Forces hit 9 terrorist infrastructure targets with precision. In this military operation, it is estimated that over a hundred terrorists, their trainers, handlers, and associates were killed. Most of these were linked to terrorist organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen,” the Defence Minister said, underscoring the decisive nature of India’s response to the deadly Pahalgam attack, which had claimed 26 civilian lives.
He added, This Operation was launched to serve justice to those families who lost loved ones in the terror attack… Crossing the border or capturing territory was not the objective of Operation Sindoor. The politico-military aim of launching Operation Sindoor was to eliminate those terror nurseries that Pakistan had nurtured for many years. And that is why the armed forces were given complete freedom to choose their targets… The aim was not to start a war, but to force the adversary to bow down.”
Operation Sindoor was launched as part of a high-precision retaliatory campaign aimed at dismantling terrorist infrastructure across the Line of Control (LoC). Singh’s remarks mark the first official confirmation of the scale of damage inflicted during the cross-border strikes.
The Defence Minister also reaffirmed India’s commitment to national security and said the country would continue to act firmly against terrorism, wherever it originates.
“We have learnt from Lord Krishna that in the end, one needs to pick the Sudarshan Chakra to protect ‘dharma’. We saw the 2006 Parliament attack, 2008 Mumbai attacks- and now we have said enough is enough, and picked the Sudarshan Chakra,” Singh said.
He added, “War should be taken up against those who are on the same level as us… Goswami Tulsidas says that 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.”
