Pahalgam attack was aimed at creating communal discord in Kashmir and rest of India: Vikram Misri

New Delhi: India’s Operation Sindoor, a series of precise airstrikes targeting nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), was launched in response to a planned attack “aimed at igniting communal violence within Kashmir and across India”, according to Indian officials.

In a press briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri revealed key findings from the investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack, directly implicating Pakistan in the violence. He stated that the attack’s primary goal was to disrupt the developmental progress in Jammu and Kashmir, specifically targeting the region’s improving social climate.

The attack, Misri emphasised, was designed to trigger widespread religious riots throughout India. This briefing was notably shared by two women officers, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

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The briefing highlighted the Pahalgam attack as the most significant assault on Indian civilians since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Operation Sindoor, launched in the early hours of May 7th, focused on neutralising key terrorist infrastructure across Pakistan and PoK, including critical locations in Kotli, Bahawalpur, and Muzaffarabad. The strikes targeted terror camps and launchpads, aiming to dismantle operational capabilities and prevent future attacks.

Misri further condemned Pakistan as a haven for global terrorists, criticising its failure to address terrorist infrastructure within its borders despite international pressure. He highlighted intelligence indicating imminent further attacks against India, necessitating the preemptive strikes. He emphasised that India’s actions were carefully calibrated, proportionate, and responsible, specifically designed to deter future cross-border terrorism while avoiding unnecessary escalation.

“Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and prevent and hence earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond to deter such more cross-border terrorism… Our actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists’ infrastructure,” Misri said.