India Responds to Pahalgam Terror with Operation Sindoor: Foreign Secy Vikram Misri

In a strong and calibrated response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, the Government of India launched Operation Sindoor early Tuesday morning, targeting terrorist infrastructure across the Line of Control. 

The move was confirmed in a special media briefing held by Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri, who detailed the justification and objectives behind the operation.

The decision follows the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 civilians, including a Nepalese national, were brutally killed by terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF). The incident marks the deadliest terror attack on civilians in India since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008.

According to Misri, the victims were executed with "close-range headshots," many in front of their families, in a deliberate attempt to inflict psychological trauma and spread fear. “This barbaric act was meant to derail the return of normalcy in Jammu & Kashmir and cripple its key economic driver — tourism,” he said, noting that the Valley saw a record 23 million tourists in 2024.
Clear Pakistani Link, Says India

India has long maintained that the TRF is a front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group proscribed by the United Nations. Misri highlighted that India had raised red flags about the TRF in its reports to the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024, and again in December 2023, warning of its connections to Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Pakistan’s efforts to suppress any mention of TRF in a UN Security Council statement issued on April 25 further point to its complicity, Misri said.

Investigations into the Pahalgam attack have revealed communications between the attackers and handlers based in Pakistan. TRF's claims of responsibility and their dissemination through Lashkar-linked social media handles have added to the evidence trail. “Our intelligence agencies have developed an accurate picture of the planners and backers of the attack,” Misri added.

He also referenced Pakistan’s track record of harboring internationally sanctioned terrorists, pointing to the Sajid Mir case as a glaring example. “Declared dead by Pakistan, he was later found alive and arrested only under international pressure,” he said.
India's Measured Military Response

Stating that Pakistan has shown no willingness to take action against terror infrastructure on its soil despite international condemnation, Misri said India had no choice but to act. “Our intelligence monitoring indicated further attacks were imminent. There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt,” he said.

Operation Sindoor, conducted earlier on May 7, was described as “measured, proportionate, non-escalatory, and responsible”, targeting known terror camps and infrastructure poised to send operatives across the border.

Misri placed the operation firmly within the bounds of international law and referenced the UN Security Council’s April 25 statement, which underscored the need to hold all perpetrators and sponsors of terrorism accountable.

He concluded the briefing by introducing Colonel Sofia Quareshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, who are expected to provide operational details of the strike in subsequent briefings.