THE Operation Sindoor undertaken by the Indian Armed Forces in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack has “completely exposed” the fact that terrorism in India is sponsored by Pakistan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday. Shah also said that the operation showed the “firm” political will of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the “precise” Intelligence inputs from agencies, and the “lethal” capabilities of the Armed Forces. India hit as deep as ‘100-km’ inside Pakistan after they dared to target a few Indian civilian and military setups following Operation Sindoor (on May 7), when nine terrorist camps were decimated, he said. Shah made the remarks while delivering the annual Rustamji Memorial Lecture organised by the Border Security Force (BSF) alongside its 22nd investiture ceremony. Raised in 1965, the BSF guards the over 6,000-km-long Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. K F Rustamji was the founding chief of the BSF. “

 

The terrorists undertook an extreme attack in Pahalgam as they selectively chose innocents, asked their religion and killed them brutally in front of their families, including women and children,” Shah said, adding thatthis “sin” was committed byPakistan-sponsored terrorists. “India’s response under Operation Sindoor was different,”hesaid.Nine terrorcamps inPakistan andPakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were “destroyed” within a few minutes, out of which twowere the headquarters of terror outfits, Shah said. “We did not attack theirmilitaryinstallationsorair bases.We only hit the terrorist bases in Pakistan. Those who committedacriminalactonour land-- theJaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba -- their bases, houses, training camps and launchpads used againstIndia were destroyed,” Shah said. The Home Minister added, “Wethoughtitwasenough that wehit theterroristsbutPakistan proved that it was sponsoring terrorism, as they took the Indian strikes as an attack on themselves and targeted civilianlocationsandmilitarybases in India.”

 

But the Indian air defencedisplayed“marvellous strength”asPakistancouldnot touch any of India’s installations, Shah said. “After this, we hit their air bases and gave a strong response by introducing them to our fire power and exposing their hollow air defence,” he said. “We did not hit (Pakistan’s) civilian installations.OperationSindoor and the incidents that followed completely exposed the fact thatPakistanissponsoring terrorism in India because it was the Pakistan Army thatreplied after we hit their terror bases,” Shah said.