There was no ‘nuclear signalling’ by Islamabad during the military conflict with Pakistan earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told Parliament Monday evening.
Mr Misri told the House’s Standing Committee on External Affairs the conflict remained “conventional” and that Islamabad’s use of Chinese-made weaponry – including the HQ-9 missile defence system – was irrelevant because “what matters is we hit their air bases hard…”
However, he declined to comment on any Indian fighter jets that may have been shot down by Pak air defences, citing national security constraints. There were reports – which the government denied – Pakistan had shot down five Indian jets, including at least three Rafales.
Concerns that nuclear facilities – for weapons or civil use – may be targeted, deliberately or inadvertently, were red-flagged during the conflict. Such concerns were also shouted out by Pakistan in an attempt to paint India as the aggressor and ‘blackmail’ the Indian military into submission. These, however, were dismissed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India, Mr Modi had said, would not be intimidated by ‘nuclear blackmail’. “Any terrorist safe haven operating under this pretext will face precise and decisive strikes,” he declared.
The United Nations Security Council, in a closed-door consultation called for by Pak, also dismissed these fears. In fact, the UNSC then grilled Pak on its support for terror groups.
In a detailed briefing about Operation Sindoor – India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack – Mr Misri also said the United States had no role to play in the May 12 ceasefire.
The Committee was told Pak had reached out first; this was on the afternoon of May 10 and after precision strikes by the Indian military hit Pak military installations, including the Chines-made HQ-9 system in Lahore and the strategically important Nur Khan air base.
Mr Misri told the Committee a plea for a ceasefire came from Islamabad, specifically from Pakistan’s Director-General of Military Operations, who reached out to his counterpart in Delhi.
There was no ‘third-party mediation’ in this matter, Mr Misri assured the panel.
The Foreign Secretary – who was the face of the government, with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, for the 100-hours of the conflict with Pak – was also grilled about US President Donald Trump’s many claims that he had brokered a India-Pakistan ‘peace’.
The government has made it very clear that neither Mr Trump nor his administration played any significant role in the Indian military – which combat experts agree had Pak on the ropes – standing down. The plea for a ceasefire came from Pak, Mr Misri told the Committee, and Delhi agreed to listen, and cease hostilities, because targets set under Op Sindoor had been met.
Op Sindoor had initially targeted and destroyed nine terror camps – four in Pak and five in Pak-occupied Kashmir. These included the headquarters of two key terrorist groups – the Jaish-e-Mohammed that was behind the 2019 Pulwama and 2016 Uri attacks, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
It was an offshoot of the Lashkar, The Resistance Front, that carried out the Pahalgam attack.
India has repeatedly warned Pak against allowing terrorist outfits to operate from it soil, pointing to a mountain of growing evidence linking the Pakistani deep state to attacks around the world.
Op Sindoor, Prime Minister Modi had said earlier, marked a significant shift in the country’s new strategy in the war on terror. Seven MPs, including the Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, will lead all-party delegations to foreign countries to brief them on this changed doctrine.
