Ops Sindoor did not kill civilians, India says, hits out at Pak for state funeral for terrorists

Misri said escalation started from that side (Pakistan) with the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

New Delhi: Underlining that its Operation Sindoor just eliminated terrorists in Pakistan and areas under the illegal occupation of Pakistan, New Delhi on Thursday took a dig at the neighbouring country’s government and military for arranging “state funerals” for the terrorists killed in the offensive by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

New Delhi also put the onus of de-escalation on Islamabad, stressing that its Operation Sindoor was not designed to be escalatory in nature but was a response to the “original act of escalation” by Islamabad – the brutal killing of 26 people, mostly tourists, at Baisaran near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists on April 22.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that Pakistan would be responsible for the consequences if it used the propaganda falsely accusing the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force of targeting the Neelam Jhelam project for creating a pretext for targeting similar infrastructure in India.

New Delhi dismissed Islamabad’s propaganda that only civilians had been killed or injured by Operation Sindoor, which was carried out early on Wednesday across the Line of Control (LoC) between India and the parts of Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan, as well as across the undisputed stretch of the border between the two nations.

“If only civilians were killed in these attacks, I wonder what message this picture actually sends to all of you,” Misri said at a media briefing in New Delhi, showing the journalists a picture of Pakistan’s military officials and clerics attending the funeral of people eliminated by the cross-border offensive carried out by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, using missiles, smart bombs and drones.

The picture had coffins draped with the national flag of Pakistan. “This is a question that is worth asking. It's also odd that the funerals of civilians are carried out with the coffins being draped in Pakistani flags, and state honours being accorded. As far as we are concerned, the individuals eliminated at these facilities were terrorists. Giving terrorists state funerals may be a practice in Pakistan. It doesn't seem to make much sense to us.”

Misri also rubbished Islamabad’s claim that India deliberately targeted mosques at Bahawalpur and Muridke in Pakistan, while carrying out Operation Sindoor.

“This (allegation about India attacking religious sites in Pakistan) is completely false. Again, I have made it clear that the targets were terrorist infrastructure, terrorist facilities, and locations connected clearly with incidents of cross-border terrorism into India,” said the foreign secretary. “And,” he added, “it is in fact Pakistan that is misusing religious sites as a cover to radicalise, direct, indoctrinate and train terrorists.”

New Delhi rather turned the table on Islamabad, pointing out that Pakistan, contrary to what it claimed, had launched a targeted attack on the Sikh community in the state of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, hitting a Gurdwara and the homes of Sikhs in Poonch in J&K. Misri showed journalists pictures of three members of the Sikh community in Poonch killed in attacks by the Pakistan Army from across the LoC.

New Delhi accused Islamabad of targeting civilians in India, noting that a total of 16 civilians had been killed, and 59 others had been injured in the attacks by the Pakistan Army.