NEW DELHI: (May 8) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told an all-party meeting that at least 100 terrorists were killed in the Indian strikes on terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under ‘Operation Sindoor’, sources said.
They said the defence minister also informed the leaders that it was an ongoing operation and that India will hit back if Pakistan attacks in the wake of India’s targeted strike.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters after the meeting that it was convened to evolve a broad political consensus on the issue and leaders showed maturity and did not indulge in bickering.
The leaders also shared their concerns over the issue of national security and safety of all Indians, especially in border areas, but extended all support and that the nation was united in this fight against terrorism.
“The entire nation is united with the government and the armed forces,” Rijiju said.
He also said that the Defence Minister told the meeting that “we don’t do politics just for forming governments, but also to build the nation”.
“The Raksha mantri told the meeting that it was an ongoing operation and that is why he cannot share the technical details of Operation Sindoor that was launched by Indian armed forces,” he said.
This, he said, is also the reason why no armed forces officials were present at the all-party meeting, as they were busy with the operations.
He said all leaders spoke in one voice and showed maturity and extended all cooperation to the government and armed forces.
“Political leaders also congratulated the armed forces for the action taken under Operation Sindoor,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “In the moment of crisis, we are with the government”.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he complemented the armed forces and the Government of India for conducting Operation Sindoor.
“I also said that we should run an international campaign against TRF and the UN Security Council should designate it as terror organisation. We also need to ask the United States to designate TRF as foreign terrorist organisation in the country,” he said.
Leaders of several parties, including both Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, were present at the meeting, which was also attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, besides BJP president and Health minister J P Nadda.
In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base Muridke.
The military strikes were carried out under ‘Operation Sindoor’ two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
The government had earlier called an all-party meeting on April 24 to brief leaders on the attack. PTI
