New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated during the 79th Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort that Operation Sindoor was India's “expression of outrage” after the Pahalgam killings and that the country would “no longer tolerate nuclear threats”. He said India would give a “fitting and crushing response” to any misadventure. He also asserted that India has understood how “unjust and one-sided the Indus Water Treaty was” and that “blood and water will not flow together”.
On The Indus Water Treaty
On the Indus Water Treaty, which India suspended post the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Modi justified its suspension saying “this was an agreement that has caused unimaginable loss to our farmers for the past seven decades – now the water that rightfully belongs to Bharat will be reserved solely for it and its farmers. The agreement is unacceptable to us in the interest of our farmers, and in the interest of the nation.” Modi’s assertion follows threats emanating from Pakistan army chief General Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as well as its former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in recent days.
Modi said the Army was given “complete freedom” for Operation Sindoor, and it “accomplished something that had not happened in decades - penetrating hundreds of kilometres into enemy territory, they reduced terrorist headquarters to dust and turned terrorist headquarters into ruins.”
On Claims Of Rafales & Other Systems Being Destroyed In The Conflict
Skirting claims some Rafales and other systems being destroyed in the conflict, Modi insisted that “Pakistan attacked our military bases, our airbases, our sensitive places, our places of worship, our citizens with missiles and drones in countless numbers….. but their every attack was scattered like straw by our brave soldiers and our technology ... they could not cause even the slightest damage.”
The PM said the armed forces will now respond on their own to any threat. “If our enemies continue this attempt in the future, our army will decide on its own terms, at the time of its choosing, in the manner it deems fit, and target the objectives it selects and we will act accordingly.” Modi said India has now “established a new normal: those who nurture and harbour terrorism, and those who empower terrorists, will no longer be seen as separate. They are all equal enemies of humanity, with no distinction between them.”
He said India would also no longer yield to nuclear threats. “The nuclear blackmail that has gone on for so long will no longer be endured.” Describing Operation Sindoor as “the marvel of 'Made in India',” due to which “the enemy had no inkling of what weapons and capabilities we possessed, what power was destroying them in the blink of an eye,” the PM called for becoming more self-reliant in all fields. “Imagine if we were not self-reliant, could we have executed Operation Sindoor with such swiftness? he asked.
