We are at war with terrorists: Indian Ambassador to US Vinay Kwatra

New York: India is at war with the terrorists and will bring justice to victims of the Pahalgam attack by holding the “lowlifes, subhuman monsters” accountable, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra has said, underscoring that in no world would these terrorists be allowed a free pass.

“The frame and the template in which we look at is the terror template. April 22 was the most heinous terrorist act," Kwatra said in an interview to CNN on Thursday.

"It is nobody's case to say that these terrorists should be given a free pass, and that's precisely what we did day before yesterday, held them accountable, brought them to justice,” Kwatra said.

“We are at war with the terrorists, and we will, as I said, bring justice to the victims and hold them accountable,” he added. “Our foremost objective in this was (to) hold these lowlifes, subhuman monsters accountable and bring justice to the victims.” India launched ‘Operation Sindoor' on May 7, striking terror factories at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians and for which The Resistance Front (TRF), a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility.

Underscoring the fact that four terrorists backed by Pakistan killed 26 civilians, Kwatra said “in no world would you allow such terrorists to be given a free pass. And that is precisely what we did the day before yesterday.

“We carried out very precise, calibrated, measured response to these terrorists, to their factories, to their integrated facilities, which they run out of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir….It is nobody’s case to say that such terrorists should be given a free pass, wherever they are located.” He added that from a large number of Congressmen, Senators to the whole world, they all appreciate that India should respond and bring accountability for these terrorists and justice for the victims.

Kwatra asserted that the original escalation and the original breakout of tension happened on April 22, when four terrorists backed by Pakistan carried out brutal killings, subhuman, monstrous kind of killings of 26 civilians, including a Nepali national.

He said the terrorists killed the civilians on the basis of religion, identifying and killing “all non-Muslims”.

“So what we did day before yesterday was essentially our response to terror,” he said, adding that India’s response has been very measured, calibrated and proportionate.

Responding to a question on explosions being heard in Kashmir, Kwatra said Pakistan has again decided to stand with the terrorists.

“Rather than take action against them, they are essentially lending them support,” he said.

“We wouldn't be surprised if they are themselves involved in this, but that's what is the message,” which Pakistan is telling the world that it is with terrorists, it is not with the rest of the civilised world, the rest of humanity.

“Pakistan's belief lies in perpetrating these proxies of terror killings, brutal killings of innocent civilians," he said.

To a comment that Pakistan has denied involvement in the attacks, Kwatra said that “denial and obfuscation” has always been the first part of Pakistan’s strategy.

“They have this unique characteristic where they assume responsibility of their past actions in future, not in the present moment,” he said as he asked "where was” Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who plotted the September 11 attacks in the US, found, the killer of American journalist Daniel Pearl or perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks found.

Responding to a question, Kwatra said that with Operation Sindoor, “we, from our perspective, had brought a certain finality to it, but it was, of course, subject to whether Pakistan has brought finality to it. Pakistan chose to escalate it further. Now it's duty-bound for us to respond to that.” When asked how concerned should the world be that the tensions between India and Pakistan could escalate into a nuclear war, the Indian envoy said, “I think the world should be concerned about the fact that Pakistan's support to terrorism and terrorist activities continues. I think that's what the world should be concerned about. And I think that's what the world should tell Pakistan - to stop supporting terrorism. I think that's the crux of the question." “That's for you to ask Pakistan for that,” he said when asked if he thinks it could get to the point of nuclear weapons.