India Strikes Hard, Stands Firm: No Dialogue Without Action on Terror and PoK

Operation Sindoor marks India's decisive strike against terror camps in Pakistan and PoK

Prime Minister Narendra Modi renewed India’s tough stand against terror in a firm and stern speech to the nation on Monday. He announced that New Delhi will talk to Pakistan on just two issues, terror and the restoration of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

His words came after India’s high-precision missile and drone attacks in Operation Sindoor, a reprisal mission against major terror bases in Pakistan and PoJK after the heinous Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26.

Operation Sindoor Is Promise Kept: PM Modi

Terming Operation Sindoor as a ‘pledge fulfilled’ on the part of crores of Indians, PM Modi paid homage to the armed forces, intelligence agencies, and scientists for taking such a decisive step. The PM stated that the operation, which effectively neutralized more than 100 terrorists, including top-rung operatives in Bahawalpur, Muridke, and other established places, was a landmark moment in India’s counter-terror doctrine.

When our missiles and drones hit, they did not merely destroy terror infrastructure. The shattered the enemy’s morale,” the Prime Minister declared. He further stated that Pakistan fell into ‘gloom’ following the strikes and reached out to India in desperation.

Terror and Talks Cannot Go Together

PM Modi was categorical in his message: “Talks with Pakistan can only happen on terrorism and PoK. Nothing else.” Referring to the brutal nature of the April 22 Pahalgam attack, in which civilians were targeted based on their religion, Modi stated that the attack was not merely an attack on lives, but an attempt to destroy the harmony of the country. “It was a personal pain for me,” he said.

He reasserted India’s established position that trade and terror,  blood and water, cannot go together, an obvious reference to the short-term suspension of the Indus Water Treaty.

A New National Security Doctrine

Terming Operation Sindoor as the extension of India’s changing military doctrine after the 2016 surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot airstrikes, Modi asserted that the nation had set a new normal, a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards terrorism. “This is not a war era, but it is also not an era to accept terrorism,” he asserted.

He also made a blunt threat to Islamabad: “Pakistan’s government and military have fostered terror. To survive, they need to destroy this infrastructure. There is no other way towards peace.”

Ceasefire a Hold, not a Closure

Though fighting has stopped for now, Modi explained that it all depends on Pakistan’s behavior in the next few days. “We have only suspended our operations,” he stated.

India, he reiterated, will not accept nuclear blackmail and will regard state sponsors of terrorism as equivalent to the terrorists themselves.