Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday underscored the success of the Indian armed forces’ ‘Operation Sindoor,’ asserting the world and the nation’s foes now know the repercussions when ‘sindoor’ turns into ‘barood’ (when vermilion turns into gunpowder).
During a public rally in Deshnoke, Bikaner, Rajasthan, Modi remembered the attack of April 22 in Pahalgam, when terrorists asked about the religion of the country’s sisters before shooting. “The bullets were fired at terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, but went through the hearts of all 140 crore citizens of the country,” he told them.
The prime minister underlined the oneness of all Indians, who had promised to inflict a harder punishment upon terrorists than they had thought. “With your blessings, with the courage of the nation’s army, we have all lived up to that promise,” he further added.
Modi showered praise on the tri-services: Army, Navy, and Air Force for their combined strength that compelled Pakistan to kneel. He said Operation Sindoor was India’s stern reaction to the Pahalgam attack that eliminated nine key terror hideouts in merely 22 minutes.
“After the air strike, I arrived in Churu and declared that I swear on this land, I will not allow my nation to be ruined, I will not allow my nation to submit,” PM Modi declared at the rally. “Today, from the land of Rajasthan, I would like to say to the countrymen, ‘Those who had embarked on erasing the vermilion have been turned to dust.'”
He continued, “Those who spilt the blood of the country have counted every single drop today. Those who believed India would keep quiet are cowering in their houses today. Those who boasted of their guns are lying under a mound of wreckage today.”
Modi has characterized Operation Sindoor as a new type of justice, ‘not some game of search and revenge’. He wrote, “This is not just anger, this is the fierce form of capable India, this is the new form of India.”
Details of Operation Sindoor
Operated on May 7, Operation Sindoor was a precision strike by the Indian military against nine terror infrastructures associated with organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and PoK. Operation Sindoor was in direct response to the April 22 terror attack at Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 individuals, of whom the majority were civilians.
The united operation by the Army, Navy, and Air Force led to the elimination of over 100 terrorists. Pakistan’s later efforts at retaliation through cross-border shelling, drones, and UAVs were successfully intercepted by Indian troops and air defense systems.
Following four days of bitter cross-border hostilities, both nuclear-armed neighbors accepted a ceasefire. India still maintains punitive actions against Pakistan, with the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
