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Rajnath Singh: Operation Sindoor Can Be Restarted; Future Phases Depend On Pakistan
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. (Image via X)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (22 September) said the military can restart Operation Sindoor, though he did not specify when or how future phases would unfold, reported The Times Of India.
“Whether part 2 remains to be done or part 3, we can't say. It depends on Pakistan's conduct. If they indulge in terrorist activities, they would get a reply,” Singh told the Indian community in Morocco.
He added, “PM too has said that this is just a pause. Operation Sindoor has only been halted… It can be started again.”
Referring to the 7 May operation following the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, Singh recalled, “The first question I asked in the meeting with CDS, the three service chiefs and defence secretary the next day, on 23rd April, was if they are ready for an operation. The Govt decided upon one. You would be delighted to know they didn't take even a second and responded that they are absolutely ready. We then approached PM Modi, he told us to go ahead and gave a free hand.”
He highlighted the success of the operation: “You saw what happened after that. Not at the border, we destroyed terror hotbeds 100 km inside their land. A top terrorist of JeM was saying that Masood Azhar's family was torn apart by India.”
On Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, he stated, “PoK will be ours on its own. Demands have started being made in PoK, you must have heard sloganeering. I was addressing the Indian Army at a program in Kashmir Valley 5 years ago, I had then said that we will not need to attack and capture PoK, it is anyway ours; PoK itself will say, 'Main bhi Bharat Hoon'.”
India initiated Operation Sindoor after the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack, carrying out precision strikes that eliminated over 100 militants in Pakistan and PoJK.
