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India Gazette
6 hours ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
"Not trying to start a war, just conducting retribution for act of terror": Shashi Tharoor on Operation Sindoor
Brasilia [Brazil], June 2 (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation, said on Monday that the whole idea of Operation Sindoor was to signal that India is not trying to start war, but just conducting 'retribution for an act of terror,' in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. This comes during his interaction with Ambassador Celso Amorim, Head Adviser of the Special Advisory to the President of the Republic in Brasilia. 'The whole idea was to signal that we are not trying to start a war, we are just conducting retribution for an act of terror, which was a really vile act, 26 people being was horrendous and it was meant to do the maximum possible damage to India, to disrupt the Kashmiri economy, which was booming, to end the prospects of tourism flourishing in to perhaps create a communal backlash in India...,' Tharoor said. The Congress leader highlighted India's strong stance against terrorism, saying that they have come here to understand the understanding on the part of friends and countries that are not necessarily our friends. ' The reason we have come is very much to seek greater sympathy and understanding on the part of our friends, and also countries that are not necessarily our friend, but you are in the high friend category, for the situations in the recent months in particular the really serious attack on country by terrorists in Kashmir...I must say that, seeing the statement by Brazil, we were also very touched by President telephoning our PM, personally, to express his concern and was no action to bring the perpetrators to justice and even to look for them in finally govt decided to send a strong a message...,' Tharoor further said. Tharoor talked of Pakistan's pressure to remove references to TRF, a front for LeT, in UN Security Council press statement on April 25. TRF had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack. '...LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) has created this front called Resistance Front, we have been reporting about Resistance Front to UN Sanctions Committee, time after India encouraged our friends on Security Council to mention the Resistance Front in the press statement that Security Council govt, I am sorry to say that with the support of your friend in China, took out the name, so there is not even a are not on the Security Council, neither are you. We have to change that situation. Both of us should be on the Council together,' he said. A group calling itself The Resistance Front (TRF) has claimed responsibility for the attack. This group is a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. Notably, India had given inputs about the TRF in the half-yearly report to the Monitoring Team of the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024, bringing out its role as a cover for Pakistan-based terrorist groups. Earlier too, in December 2023, India had informed the monitoring team about LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad operating through small terror groups such as the TRF. Pakistan's pressure to remove references to TRF in the April 25 UN Security Council Press Statement is notable in this regard. On June 1, the delegation led by Tharoor was welcomed by Sandeep Kumar Kujur, Charge d'Affaires of the Indian Embassy in Brazil after landing there. The delegation is set to leave for United States tomorrow. (ANI)
Memri
5 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
Former Iranian Nuclear Chief Fereydoon Abbasi: If I Receive Orders To Build A Nuclear Bomb – I Will Do It; We Can Build A Small Nuclear Bomb That Can Destroy A Whole Military Base, And Is Not Classifi
Fereydoon Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, discussed Iran potentially building and detonating a nuclear weapon in a May 26, 2025 interview on (Iran). He said that he has not yet received orders to build a nuclear bomb - but if he does, he will carry them out. Abbasi added that any attacks on production sites would have little impact on the timeline for developing a bomb. Abbasi stated that now is the time for people to leave Israel, warning that if the "Resistance Front" is threatened, no part of the Zionist regime should be considered immune. He said that all residents are complicit in the Israeli government's actions by remaining there and supporting it, and therefore the "Resistance Front," the Islamic world, and freedom-seeking people worldwide should demand their elimination. Abbasi said that technological advances now make it possible to build smaller nuclear bombs that may not be classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and could destroy just a military base, unlike the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He also warned the U.S., England, and Israel that an attack might not come via missile or aircraft but from within. He said: "The West is vulnerable to beasts of its own creation," referencing groups like ISIS, which he claimed were created by the West. Fereydoon Abbasi: "In one of my interviews, I said that we had reached the capability to build a [nuclear] weapon 15-20 years ago, but we had not built it for several reasons. [...] "[Building] this weapon requires two parts – the material and the technology. Let's say that you have the required material, such as uranium or plutonium. What technology will be employed? Detonation technology is needed. This means that if you can domestically produce detonators for RPGs, and if you can produce TOW and other anti-tank missiles... If they have a cone shape, why can't we make them into cylinders or spheres? This can be done. [...] "We can create a symmetrical explosion. I am willing to demonstrate it for the skeptics using a cylindrical containment. [...] "So far, we have not received orders to build [a nuclear bomb]. If they tell me to build it, I will do it. [...] "It is a mistake to set a time frame, whether six months, a month, a year, or a day. Once the decision is made, you will need to make some small changes. If you work with uranium, you will need 90% enriched uranium. This level of enrichment can be achieved by laser, by electromagnetism, or by centrifuges." Interviewer: "If we decide to build [nuclear weapons], and during the time it takes us to build them, they attack and destroy our infrastructure, what should we do?" Abbasi: "Which infrastructure? Our nuclear infrastructure? Nothing would happen." Interviewer: "How come?" Abbasi: "Our capabilities are spread all over the country. [...] "If they target the production sites, it will be inconsequential to our timetable." Interviewer: "Our timetable to build [a bomb]?" Abbasi: "Because our [nuclear materials] are not stored above ground for them to hit. [...] "We need to stand firmly behind our armed forces and tell them to go and strike whoever threatens us, wherever they may be. The Zionist regime has committed countless killings. All the Zionists who remained there are hardcore Zionists. Now is the time for those who wish to emigrate to have their chance to leave. Moving forward, if the Resistance Front faces any damage or threats by the Zionist regime – including nuclear threats – no location inside the Zionist regime should be regarded immune, whether it is populated or not. They are all complicit in the killings, because they stayed there to support the regime. The Resistance Front, the Islamic world, and the freedom-seeking people worldwide should demand that all of them be eliminated. [...] "If they threaten us – like the nuclear threats they made during the Bush era – we cannot sit idly by. Advancements in technology allow for the production of less powerful nuclear weapons that may not fall under the definition of WMDs. We should not think of these [devices] like the ones from Hiroshima or Nagasaki. It is now possible to destroy just a military base. [...] "Countries like the U.S., England, and the Zionist regime should be aware that attacks will not always be carried out by means of missiles or aircraft. I say this because they focus so much on our missiles... What if they are attacked from within?" Interviewer: "How come?" Abbasi: "If the attacks come from the inside. Did they not create ISIS and Al-Nusra? Did they not own up to creating ISIS? Where are these groups that were gathered from different countries? Aren't they responsible for carrying out terrorist acts in different countries? The West is vulnerable to beasts of its own creation. They must expect that any action or threat against sovereign countries will result in repercussions against them."
News18
6 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Singaporean Woman, Who Narrowly Escaped Phalagam Attack, Sends Message To PM Modi
Last Updated: Vaishali Bhatt and her husband had left the Pahalgam's Baisaran meadows, just an hour and a half before the terrorists gunned down the tourists on April 22. An Indian origin Singaporean woman narrowly escaped horrific terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last month. The woman, Vaishali Bhatt and her husband had left the Pahalgam's Baisaran meadows, just an hour and a half before the terrorists gunned down the tourists on April 22. Deeply affected by the tragedy, Bhatt initially felt frustrated by the perceived lack of immediate action against terrorism. However, her sentiments shifted dramatically upon hearing about 'Operation Sindoor" on the morning of May 7. During a conversation with BJP MP Hemang Joshi, who was in Singapore as part of an all-party delegation conveying India's firm stance against terrorists, Bhatt conveyed her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, specifically acknowledging the operation's meaningful name, 'Sindoor." Bhatt said that the 'Sindoor' name of the operation deeply resonated with her, symbolising protection, faith, and the sacred bond that Operation Sindoor meant for countless families who lost their relatives in the ghastly attack. 'I was in Pahalgam on (April) 22nd and had a narrow escape. I used to read the newspaper every morning, hoping that the government would act. And the lack of action (in the initial phase) left me frustrated. But on May 7, when I read about Operation Sindoor being carried out, I cried uncontrollably. It meant a lot to me. The 'Sindoor' name was apt. No one else could have done it," she said in a video message. In one of the biggest attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Lashkar-linked terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists in Pahalgam on Tuesday, April 22, killing at least 26 people, including foreign tourists, and injuring many others. The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar offshoot, claimed responsibility for the attack, although it later backtracked after massive global outrage. After the attack, the diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan were downgraded with New Delhi announcing several punitive measures, including suspension of Indus Water Treaty, cutting Islamabad Mission strength, closing its airspace for Pakistani airlines and expulsion of its military attaches. Operation Sindoor India launched 'precision strikes" under Operation Sindoor on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. The strikes killed over 100 terrorists including 10 family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and four close aides. Targets included Jaish's Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, Sarjal camp in Tehra Kalan, Markaz Abbas in Kotli, and the Syedna Bilal camp in Muzaffarabad. Lashkar's strongholds — Markaz Taiba in Murdike, Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala, and Shwawai Nalla camp in Muzaffarabad — were also hit. Hizbul Mujahideen's facilities at Makaz Raheel Shahid in Kotli and Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot were among those targeted. First Published: May 28, 2025, 19:03 IST
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First Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Modi's India hits back: How Operation Sindoor is the unveiling of a strategic doctrine
Unlike in the past, this time India didn't appeal for international mediation or issue a diplomatic demarche. Instead, India launched such a calibrated military action that defence experts around the world have given a resounding applause read more Operation Sindoor sent a compelling message to Pakistan: this is not the India of 2008, when they could launch the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks (in which over 170 people were killed and 300 injured) and get away with nuclear blackmail. This is a different India, one that is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the most decisive leader in independent India's history and one of the foremost strategists on the global stage today. This India hits back. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Unlike in the past, this time India didn't appeal for international mediation or issue a diplomatic demarche. Instead, India launched such a calibrated military action that defence experts around the world have given it a resounding applause. The renowned American defence expert John Spencer wrote in an article in the Small Wars Journal: 'India has become a master of the physics of lethality. The United States can learn from their success and model some of their changes for its own needs.' Austrian combat aviation analyst and author Tom Cooper also described India's response as a 'clear-cut victory'. Cooper asserted that Pakistan's decision to ask for a ceasefire was a direct result of India's superior military response. He credited India's success to its advanced firepower and its multi-layered air defence systems. Japanese strategic expert Satoru Nagao praised India's Operation Sindoor, calling it a 'responsible and proper' response against state-sponsored terrorism. He called out Pakistan for supporting terrorism and called it a risky strategy. He added that 'Operation Sindoor is a very good, responsible, proper response against state-sponsored terrorism'. India was attacked on April 22, 2025, when 26 Indian civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, were massacred in Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility. As is the case with all terrorist groups which target India from their bases in Pakistan, this group is also backed by that country's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On May 7, in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India launched Operation Sindoor, a swift and precisely calibrated military campaign. The Indian Air Force struck nine terrorist infrastructure targets inside Pakistan, including the headquarters and operational hubs of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The targets included key terror training camps and hideouts in Bahawalpur, Muridke, Muzaffarabad, Sarjal, Sialkot, Bhimber and elsewhere. When Pakistan retaliated with a massive drone swarm across India's western states, India's multi-layered air defence network—domestically built and augmented by Russian and Israeli systems—neutralised nearly all of them. In retaliation for Pakistan's attack, the Indian armed forces then launched the second phase of Operation Sindoor on May 10. India escalated with additional strikes on six Pakistani military airbases and UAV coordination hubs and broke the spine of Pakistan's air defence network. The targeted air bases were Chaklala in Rawalpindi, Murid in Chakwal, Rafiqui in Shorkot, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian. This time, key military structures were targeted, and the damage inflicted on Pakistan was so severe that within hours, it forced Islamabad to beg for peace. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A temporary halt in firing was reached. India did not call it a ceasefire. The Indian military referred to it as a 'stoppage of firing'—a deliberate choice of words that reinforced its strategic control of the situation. Not unexpectedly, PM Modi's critics argued that India should not have agreed to the ceasefire and that India should have gone further and inflicted more damage on Pakistan, even perhaps facilitating a regime change. However, they seemed to miss the point that Operation Sindoor was not about causing lethal damage to Pakistan or wanting a regime change. It was a limited war executed for specific objectives and succeeded by having the desired effect. Prime Minister Modi's message went across loud and clear: terror attacks launched from Pakistani soil will now be treated as acts of war. As he said, 'Terror and talks can't go together. Water and blood can't flow together.' More than a retaliation, this was the unveiling of a strategic doctrine. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD An unmistakable feature of this new doctrine was that India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail. Rather, India will strike precisely and decisively at the terrorist hideouts developing under the cover of nuclear blackmail. Another very significant aspect of Operation Sindoor should not be overlooked. It validated PM Modi's national defence doctrine built around efficient domestic industrial strength. Thus, it was much more than a swift and precise military response to another cross-border terrorist attack. After becoming prime minister in 2014, Modi launched the 'Make in India' initiative, which has led to the reforming of its defence sector. The focus has been on domestic production, self-reliance, and strategic speed. A decade later, that investment paid off in the remarkable success of Operation Sindoor. India used such domestically developed systems like BrahMos missiles, Akashteer air defence units and loitering munitions to strike hardened targets across the border with precision, speed, and overwhelming effect. Pakistani defences—built largely around older Chinese systems—were powerless to detect, deter, or respond to the strikes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's defence procurement has shifted significantly, with around 65 per cent of defence equipment now being manufactured domestically. This represents a substantial move away from the reliance on imports, which earlier accounted for 65-70 per cent of India's defence needs. This shift is driven by the 'Make in India' initiative and a robust defence industrial base, including public sector units, licensed companies, and micro, small, and medium enterprises. India's execution of Operation Sindoor and the Pakistani request for a ceasefire were a clear strategic victory for India. However, it would be a mistake to think we will no longer face challenges from Pakistan. The ISI is the fountainhead of terror, and all terrorist organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen have an umbilical relationship with it. The ISI will do whatever it takes to rebuild any parts of the terror infrastructure which were destroyed by India. In this background, the Trump administration's unmistakable cosying up to Pakistan, along with the loan sanctioned to Pakistan by the IMF (where the US has a decisive say), are signs that we cannot lower our guard. Rather, we need to remain on high alert, and PM Modi is doing just that. That is why he has not declared Operation Sindoor to be completely over, as he declared, 'This is not a ceasefire but a halt in operations, as per India's strategic judgement.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Summing up, what exists now is a sensitive halt in operations, a strategic hold following a rare and unambiguous military victory. A clear message has undoubtedly gone across to Pakistan—if you provoke us again, we will strike you again—and we will do so in a decisive, precise and telling manner. This is the hallmark of India's new security doctrine. It remains to be seen whether it makes Pakistan's ISI see the light of reason. My guess is that it will not, though I would be only too happy if I am proved wrong. The writer is a retired Indian diplomat and had previously served as Consul General in New York. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Mint
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
‘No one in Pakistan will be allowed to believe they can just…': Shashi Tharoor's stern message on ‘new norm'
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation that's reaching out to the US over Operation Sindoor, said on Sunday that India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attack is going to be the new normal in India's approach to combating terrorism. Tharoor said no one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill Indian citizens with impunity, as he asserted that there will be a 'price to pay.' The Congress MP emphasised on India's new normal in its approach against terror, saying 'There is now got to be a new norm. No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay and that price has been going up systematically.' India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives on May 22 in Kashmir. Tharoor is leading a delegation of Indian MPs to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and the US, to convey India's stance against terrorism and emphasising Pakistan's links to terror. 'Within one hour of the atrocity, a group called Resistance Front had claimed credit, they were known as frontal organisation of banned LeT, which is on the US designated terror list as well, UN sanctions committee, India had gone to the UN sanctions committee with information about Resistance Front in 2023, 2024, 2025. After global condemnation, they deleted the claim,' Tharoor said. 'Therefore, the culpability lay not just with 4-5 evil killers who came to Pahalgam, but also with those who send them, finance them, train them, equip them, guide them,' he added. Speaking against Pakistan, Tharoor said that it chose the 'usual path of denial'. 'We know where the responsibility lay. Sadly Pakistan chose the usual path of denial, they succeeded with the help of China, succeeded in removing a reference to Resistance Front from the press statement of the UN two days later. Though the name was not mentioned, we knew what was happening. India replied that this will not go unanswered,' he said. (This is a developing story. Check back for updates)
