"Any Attack On Military Targets...": Why India Struck Pak Air Defence Today

When India struck 24 terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor yesterday, it ensured that no military installation was targeted. Islamabad's response, however, was escalatory as it tried to strike multiple military targets in northern and western India. India retaliated and struck air defence radars at several locations in Pakistan, neutralising one at Lahore.

The government's official statement on the developments late last night says that the Operation Sindoor airstrikes on the terror infrastructure of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed were "focused, measured and non-escalatory". "It was specifically mentioned that Pakistani military establishments had not been targeted. It was also reiterated that any attack on military targets in India will invite a suitable response," it said.

Operation Sindoor

Pakistan's Bid to Escalate Negated- Proportionate Response by India.https://t.co/E6e65goX9R#OperationSindoor@DefenceMinIndia@SpokespersonMoD@HQ_IDS_Indiapic.twitter.com/mURL8hplRA

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But late last night, Pakistan tried to target military targets in Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, with drones and missiles. Click here for Operation Sindoor Live Updates

"These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems. The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations that prove the Pakistani attacks," the government said.

As warned, India today targeted air defence systems in Pakistan. "Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised," the statement said.

Pakistan, the government has said, has stepped up artillery firing along the Line of Control in several parts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch, Mendhar and Rajouri sectors. "Sixteen innocent lives have been lost, including three women and five children, due to Pakistani firing. Here too, India was compelled to respond to bring Mortar and Artillery fire from Pakistan to a halt. Indian Armed Forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is respected by the Pakistani military," the government said.

India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and a Kashmiri man were murdered in cold blood. The Resistance Front, a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the heinous attack. Investigation into the attack revealed communication notes of terrorists in and to Pakistan.

"The features of this attack also tie in with Pakistan's long track record of perpetrating cross-border terror in India, which is well documented, and beyond question," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a briefing yesterday.

India, he said, found it essential that the perpetrators and planners of the April 22 attack be brought to justice. "Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control. Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending. There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt," he said.

"Earlier this morning as you would be aware India exercised its right to respond and pre-empt as well as deter more such cross-border attacks. These actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible. They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India," Mr Misri said, underlining that India's airstrikes were directed only at terror infrastructure.