Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday exposed Pakistan’s tacit links to terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jais-e-Mohammed. While addressing a media briefing on Operation Sindoor in Delhi on Thursday, Misri questioned why terror operatives were being accorded a state funeral with the presence of military brass.
“It’s also odd that the funerals of civilians are carried out with the coffins being draped in Pakistani flags and state honours being accorded. As far as we are concerned, the individuals eliminated at these facilities were terrorists. Giving terrorists state funerals may be a practice in Pakistan. It doesn’t seem to make much sense to us.”
Mrisri sheld up the photo where Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a US-designated global terrorist and high-level Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, leading funeral prayers for those who died in the Indian missile strikes.
Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a US-designated global terrorist and high-level Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, leading funeral prayers for those who died in the Indian missile strikes. Rauf has been implicated in facilitating LeT’s operations, which include high-profile attacks such as the 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people. The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Rauf as a global terrorist in 2010 under Executive Order 13224 for his role in LeT’s financial and logistical networks.
“Yesterday Pakistan launched a targeted attack on the Sikh community of J&K- hitting a Gurdwara in Poonch and hitting the Sikh community members, who came under attack, and three individuals were killed in the attacks… A total of 16 civilians have been killed in Poonch and several others have been injured.” he added.
Further, Misri pointed out that Pakistan had opposed the mention of ‘The Resistance Front’ (TRF) in the UNSC, despite the fact that the TRF, a front for LeT, had claimed responsibility for the terror attack, not once but twice
Misri stated, “When talks were going on about the Pahalgam at the UNSC, Pakistan opposed the role of TRF (The Resistance Front). This is after TRF claimed the responsibility of the attack not once, but twice… Col Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh clearly said yesterday as well as today, that India’s response is non-escalatory, precise, and measured.”
“Our intention is not to escalate matters and we are only responding to the escalation. No military targets have been targeted; only terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan has been hit,” he added.
The foreign secretary also dismissed Pakistani claims that they had downed India jets saying that the nation had been lying since it had been born.
“There is nothing surprising in it. After all, this is a country that started lying as soon as it was born. In 1947, when the Pakistani army claimed Jammu and Kashmir, they lied not to any random person but to the United Nations that we have nothing to do with it… So this journey started 75 years ago.”
He also warned the Pakistani establishment of engaging in any other misadventure, “Any further action by Pakistan, some of which we are seeing today, is nothing but escalation by Pakistan once again, and will be responded to and is being responded to appropriately.”
Earlier, the Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised by Indian military drone action. The Harpy drones designed to attack radar systems were used by the Indian armed forces to target enemy air defence systems in Lahore, after Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets on the night of May 7.
The military targets were engaged in Northern and Western India, including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks.
India on May 7 executed Operation Sindoor, in which nine terror sites deep inside Pakistan were destroyed in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 innocents were killed. (ANI)
