Chennai: National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Friday took a dig at international media over misleading reporting of India's Operation Sindoor. Naming the New York Post, Doval called the reporting misleading. The NSA made these remarks while speaking at the 62nd Convocation of IIT Madras.
The NSA highlighted that images of damage to Pakistani airbases surfaced online, but not a single photo of any damage to an Indian military installation.
"Foreign press said that Pakistan did that and this. You tell me one photograph, one imagery which shows any Indian damage done... They wrote things, New York Times... but the images showed 13 air bases of Pakistan before and after 10th May," Doval said.
Ajit Doval's Remarks:
"The images only showed 13 air bases in Pakistan before and after 10th May, whether it was in Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, Chaklala...I am only telling you what the foreign media put out on the basis of images...We are capable of doing that (damage to Pakistani air bases," he added.
Lauding India's indigenous technology used during Operation Sindoor, Doval said, "We have to develop our indigenous technology. Mention of Sindoor was made here. We are really proud of how much of indigenous content was there."
"We decided to have 9 terrorist targets in the criss-cross of Pakistan, it was not in the border areas. We missed none. We hit nowhere else except that. It was precise to the point where we knew who was where. Entire operation took 23 minutes," he added.
Operation Sindoor:
Notably, on April 22, five to six Pakistan-backed terrorists opened fire on people enjoying their vacations at Baisaran meadow near Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, killing 26 people. Among the deceased was also a Nepali citizen. As per eyewitnesses, the terrorists singled out non-Muslims and shot them dead. One local pony guide also died in the attack. Initially, Pakistan-based terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba's (leT) offshoot, The Resistance Front (TRF), claimed responsibility. However, it denied its role days later.
On the intervening night of May 6 and 7, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor and targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan tried to attack Indian civilian and military installations. However, India's air defence thwarted the attack. On the intervening night of May 9 and 10, India hit 11 Pakistani air bases.
Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) on May 10 contacted his Indian counterpart and requested a ceasefire.
