India wanted a stable, prosperous Pakistan but our peace efforts were mistaken for weakness: Rajnath
The Defence Minister, who opened the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha, recalled that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had even undertaken a bus journey to Lahore with the message of peace.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India knows the language of both peace and force and underlined that the country wanted a stable and prosperous Pakistan, an effort which Islamabad saw as weakness.
'This was our thought. This reflected our thinking and India's civilisational values, which view peace as a strength. However, it was misunderstood, our efforts for peace were mistaken for weakness,' Singh said Monday.
The Modi government, he said, had also made numerous efforts to establish peace with Pakistan.
But later, through the 2016 surgical strike, the 2019 Balakot air strike, and the 2025 Operation Sindoor, 'we have adopted a different path to establish peace,' he said, adding that 'the stand of the Narendra Modi government is clear—talks and terror cannot go together'.
'If we know how to make efforts for peace, we also know how to speak and explain in the language that the vicious understand.
In an hour-long speech to open the debate on Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha, Singh pulled up the Opposition saying the questions that should have been asked were 'how many enemy aircraft were shot down' and 'did India destroy terrorist bases'.
Singh also praised the Indian military and underlined precision strikes that destroyed nine terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir and killed over 100 terrorists.
He said that India's air defence systems including counter drone and electronic warfare had together 'foiled Pakistan's attacks'. 'Pakistan could not hit our targets… there was no damage to any of our important assets,' he said, regarding the multiple waves of drones and missiles that Pakistan launched.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan likely used NATO-style aerial tactics taught by China
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