External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that there was a lot of international understanding for India’s decision to launch ‘’Operation Sindoor’’ to destroy terrorist bases in Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

‘’ This was a horrific, particularly brutal terrorist attack because it was meant to create a fear psychosis and destroy the tourism economy of Kashmir, which is the mainstay. And it also meant, in a way, to sow religious discord, the manner in which it was done. So what we were responding to was terrorism,’’ he said in an interaction at the German Council on Foreign Relations during his visit to the European nation.

Advertisement

Mr Jaishankar recalled that the UN Security Council had, three days after the Pahalgam attack, issued a statement saying that the people who did it should be brought to justice, they should be held accountable. ‘’And that is exactly what we did on the 7th of May (the day India launched Operation Sindoor). So, we targeted terrorist headquarters and terrorist centers.’’ He said.

Mr Jaishankar disagreed with a suggestion that it was a conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, saying it was a response to a terrorist attack. ‘’And a terrorist attack which is part of a pattern which has not only targeted the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but other parts of India as well. So, it’s very important to clarify, because when you project it as a conflict, you’re really putting the perpetrator and the victim, without meaning to, I understand, at the same level,’’ he added.

India’s campaign, he said, is against terrorists. ‘’Now, the terrorists in this case happened to be located in the country next door, because that country next door has for many, many years used terrorism as a kind of a tool in its attempts to pressurize us or call it what you will. So, in a way I’m laboring the point. But I’m doing it because, when it comes to terrorism, I think today, there’s virtually no country which would say, I approve of what is done. Or no country which would say, I don’t condemn what was done. And if I were to say, I have the right to defend myself, my people, I have the right to secure my country, I think most, much of the world would agree with me,’’ he added.

Mr Jaishankar was happy to point out that Germany was among the first nations to condemn the Pahalgam attack. ‘’We are very encouraged both by the very early condemnation of the terrorist attack, as well as the very clear message which we got on the 7th of May, and again today from (German) Minister Wadephul, that Germany recognizes India’s right to defend itself against terrorism,’’ he added.