'India's fight was against terrorists, Pakistan chose to make it its own'

India on Monday said that the country’s fight was against terrorists and it was pitiful that Pakistan joined the fight on the side of terrorists.

India launched operation Sindoor on May 7 and struck nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). Later that day, Pakistan responded with attempted drone and missile attacks on several cities. India responded the next day with strikes on Pakistan’s several air defence and radar sites. As Pakistan continued attacks, India conducted multiple rounds of strikes and hit at least eight Pakistani airbases and radar and air defence sites.

At a tri-services press conferences on Monday, Air Marshal AK Bharti, the Director General of Air Operations, said that India’s fight was never against Pakistan, but against terrorists. This has been India’s stance since the beginning.

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In the first statement about Operation Sindoor, India said that no military site was hit in Pakistan.

“Our fight was with terrorists and their infrastructure and not with Pakistani military. It’s a pity that Pakistani military chose to intervene and take sides with terrorists. We attacked terror camps on 7th May,” said Bharti.

Separately, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said that the character of terrorism had been changing lately and the Pahalgam attack was the final straw.

Ghai said, “It is important to understand the context of Operation Sindoor. The character of terrorist activities had seen a change in the past few years. Civilians were being targeted in this dangerous trend.”

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Ghai went on to refer to the attacks on pilgrims in J&K’s Reasi last year in which nine people were killed and more than 40 were injured. He said that terrorists had started targeting civilians and the Pahalgam attack was the last straw.

In the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists killed 26 people. The Narendra Modi government has treated the Pahalgam attack as a turning point. The government has made it clear that the next such attack would be considered as an act of war.