 "The medium-range Akash air defence system is in service with the Indian Army and Air Force. (Photo: BEL)")
Operation Sindoor is ongoing but currently paused, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday amid US President Donald Trump’s continuing claims of brokering a ceasefire.
In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Singh said that Pakistan had pleaded for a ceasefire. “I want to make it clear that there were repetitive phone calls from the Pakistan DGMO asking for a ceasefire. After those phone calls and after achieving what we wanted to achieve, we ended the operation,” he said, adding, “We will do it again if the need arises.”
Singh also reiterated India’s stance on cross-border terrorism, warning that New Delhi will respond decisively to attacks originating from Pakistan. “If they run away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them (Yadi woh bhag kar Pakistan mein jayega, toh Pakistan mein ghus kar marenge),” he said. “We have proved it. India targeted terror dens on Pakistan soil, and no civilian was attacked,” Singh told News18.
Rajnath’s remarks have come at a time when Trump has again started to refer to the India-Pakistan conflict of May in his public remarks. He has claimed that it was his intervention that stopped the India-Pakistan conflict.
India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 to strike at nine terrorist sites in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam attack the previous month.
When Pakistan responded with attacks on Indian cities and military facilities the next day, India responded with strikes on Pakistan’s military installations. For the next four days, India and Pakistan were locked in clashes and India hammered Pakistan’s airbases, radars, air defence systems, and other military infrastructure.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAfter four days of hammering, Pakistan reached out and requested a ceasefire on May 10. India granted the request as it has achieved its objectives.
However, Trump has never stopped claiming that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He has invoked nuclear threat to the world from these countries and said he leveraged trade with these countries to push them towards a ceasefire.
At the same time, Trump’s sky-high tariffs on India and alignment with Pakistan, the India-US relationship has fallen to the lowest point in the post-Cold War era.