New Delhi, Jul 28: In an intervention during the Lok Sabha discussion on ‘Operation Sindoor’, Member of Parliament from Poonch, Mian Altaf Ahmad, raised concerns about the plight of civilians affected by the recent conflagration between India and Pakistan and demanded justice for victims living in areas near the Line of Control (LoC).

Altaf, who represents the region where the Pahalgam terror attack occurred, described the deep pain and mourning among locals after 26 civilians were killed in the tragedy.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir spontaneously came out to condemn the attack, with many unable to eat or sleep for days in grief.

The Member of Parliament also highlighted the suffering in his constituency during the exchange of fire between India and Pakistan.

He said shelling from across the border caused severe damage in both Poonch and Rajouri districts, killing 17 civilians, including children and elderly people.

Altaf recalled how Poonch town, despite having experienced past wars, had never seen such devastation, forcing residents to flee and leaving it deserted, like a ghost town.

He said that in Rajouri, three more civilians were killed, including a government official who was assisting locals during the operation.

Altaf said that religious places, homes, and businesses were damaged in the shelling and urged that such horrors should never be repeated.

He appealed to the government to provide additional compensation to the affected families.

The Member of Parliament also raised the case of a Gujjar youth, Pervez, who was killed in Police firing and demanded a proper investigation into the case and justice to his family.

He said that the failure to ensure accountability could shake the local population’s faith in the administration.

Altaf urged the Home Minister to release those innocent civilians who were arrested during and after the operation, and called for improved emergency infrastructure like ambulances and bunkers in the border areas.

He requested the extension of railway connectivity from Jammu and Srinagar to Rajouri and Poonch, which he said would help integrate these remote border towns more closely with the rest of the country.

New Delhi, Jul 28: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday asserted that at no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage of trade with Operation Sindoor and the request for halting the military action came from the Pakistani side through the DGMO channel. Jaishankar also said the result of India’s diplomacy post-Pahalgam attack was that only three out of 190 nations which are part of the UN opposed Operation Sindoor.

There was an overwhelming support that the country which has been attacked has the right to defend itself, he said.

Intervening in the special discussion in the Lok Sabha on ‘India’s strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam’, Jaishankar said it was important to send a clear, strong and resolute message after the Pahalgam attack as “our red lines had been crossed and we had to make it very apparent that there would be serious consequences”. Hailing the government’s diplomatic efforts post-Pahalgam attack, the EAM said, “What we tried to create was a narrative and prepare the diplomacy for launch of Operation Sindoor. The result of that diplomacy was that out of the 190 nations of UN only three, besides Pakistan, opposed Operation Sindoor.

“Overwhelmingly, there was recognition that terror was unacceptable and the country which has been attacked has the right to defend itself and India was doing exactly that,” Jaishankar said. “When Operation Sindoor was launched, we put out our objectives that it was hitting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Our actions were focussed, measured and non-escalatory and we were living up to the commitment that those responsible for those attacks will be held responsible,” he said.

Jaishankar pointed out that The Resistance Front (TRF) group had been designated as a global terror organisaion by the US due to Indian diplomacy.

“On May 10, we received phone calls sharing the impression of other countries that Pakistan was ready to cease the fighting. Our position was that if Pakistan was ready, we needed to get this as a request from the Pakistani side through the DGMO channel. That is exactly how that request came,” Jaishankar said. “I want to make two things very clear — at no stage in any conversation with the US was their any linkage with trade and what was going on. Secondly, there was no call between the prime minister and President Trump from April 22 — when President Trump called up to convey his sympathy — till June 17, when he called up, the PM who was in Canada,” he said.

Talking about the post-Pahalgam actions of the government, Jaishankar said that the Cabinet Committee on Security had decided that the Indus Waters Treaty would be held in abeyance until Pakistan abjures its support for terrorism, along with a host of other steps.

“It was very clear that after the steps, India’s response to the Pahalgam attack will not stop there. Our responsibility from a foreign policy approach was to shape the global understanding of the Pahalgam attack,” he said.

Jaishankar said that Indian diplomacy then tried to bring out Pakistan’s long-standing support to terrorism and how the Pahalgam attack was targeted at Jammu and Kashmir’s economy and sow communal discord.

“Messages were two — zero tolerance for terrorism and right to defend our people against terrorists. All diplomatic briefing were aimed at these two objectives,” he said.

Jaishankar’s remarks came after Congress’ Deputy Leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi slammed the government over US President Donald Trump’s claim made “26 times”, that he used trade to bring about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The Congress has been repeatedly attacking the government over Trump’s remarks.

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan. However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, Modi firmly stated that India does not and will “never accept” mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad’s request. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

New Delhi, July 28: Decisive action has replaced dossiers and the new India can go to any extent to uproot terrorism, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday while stating that Operation Sindoor was on pause as the armed forces had achieved the desired objectives.

Initiating the special discussion on “India’s strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam” in the Lok Sabha, Singh said the military action against Pakistan had sent a clear message to supporters of terrorism that India was committed to defend its motherland.

Just as the debate started in the Lok Sabha, security forces in Jammu and Kashmir reported that three terrorists have been gunned down after a massive gunfight.

“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.

Rejecting US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the minister added, “Operation Sindoor was paused as the armed forces had achieved the desired politico-military objectives and there was no pressure to end the conflict with Pakistan.”

If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again, he added.

Singh asserted that India now believes in taking decisive action as peace overtures have not yielded desirable results.

The defence minister also made light of the opposition attacks against the government on the loss of military assets in the four-day war and urged political rivals to ask the number of Pakistani aircraft downed by India.

“It is the opposition’s job to ask questions of the government. Our opposition members kept asking how many of our aircraft were shot down, but they never asked how many Pakistani planes our forces had shot down,” Singh said.

“If you want to ask questions, then ask if any of our soldiers were harmed in this operation. The answer is no, none of our soldiers were harmed.”

Singh said Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 6-7 to deliver justice to those who lost their loved ones in the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks in Pahalgam on April 22.

To say or believe that Operation Sindoor was stopped under any pressure is baseless and completely incorrect, he said.

It was Pakistan’s director general of military operations who requested his Indian counterpart to end the strikes, the minister asserted.

Singh’s statement comes in the backdrop of Trump’s claims of mediation to end the conflict between India and Pakistan.

“The objective of Operation Sindoor was to destroy the terror nurseries nurtured by Pakistan over the years. The objective was to provide justice to the families who lost their loved ones in the Pahalgam terror attack,” Singh told the House.

“The overall politico-military objective of Operation Sindoor was to punish Pakistan for carrying out a proxy war through terrorism. This was the reason armed forces were given complete freedom to select targets and give a befitting response,” he said.

Singh added that the idea behind Operation Sindoor was not to start a war but force the adversary to bend through demonstrative use of force.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to know from the defence minister 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.

“Operation Sindoor symbol of our strength… demonstrated that India will not remain silent if anyone harms its citizens,” Singh said.

The defence minister said India first extends the hand of friendship, but it also knows how to twist the wrist if any country betrays it.

“Pakistan initially rejected our rationale of specific targeting of terror outfits during Operation Sindoor and sought to escalate the situation targeting India’s civil and military places, thus violating the ceasefire.”

He 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.

“In any exam, results matter, not whether the pencil was broken or the pen lost. Ultimately, results matter,” Singh said, responding to opposition criticism.

The minister said India has always aspired for peace with Pakistan, and cited the historic Lahore bus journey undertaken by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999. However, India’s peaceful outreach was misunderstood as weakness.

“We once spoke the language of the Lahore bus journey, but Pakistan did not understand that. We now respond with the Balakot strike,” Singh said.

He said successive Indian governments have made efforts to maintain friendly ties with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries.

“India wants friendly relations with all, and we have demonstrated this consistently,” Singh said.