Addressing media on ‘Operation Sindoor’, Army and Air Force say targets struck by Indian armed forces in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were selected while ensuring damage to civilian infra and loss of civilian lives be avoided.
They underline that use of niche technology weapons and careful selection of warheads was ensured to avoid collateral damage.
Indian armed forces Wednesday launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.
According to a statement issued by Press Information Bureau at 1.44 am on 7 May, 2025, a total of 9 sites were struck but no “Pakistani military facilities have been targeted”.
LIVE UPDATES: Operation Sindoor
8 pm: A day after mock drills were held in parts of the country, multiple cities in India prepared for blackout period.
5.45 pm: In his first address to the country’s National Assembly after Indian armed forces struck terror infra in Pakistan and PoK, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said India used “the dead and dark of the night” to launch a “cowardly” attack. “Respected speaker, five days back, India was gloating over its purchase of Rafale jets … and these jets flew from there in combat form, but our air force was also prepared,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn.
“They tried to convince the entire world that, god forbid, Pakistan was involved in the incident,” he said, referring to the Pahalgam terror attack.
5.30 pm: Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav applauds India’s armed forces, says the party stands firmly with the government on any action needed in this matter.
Former defence minister Sharad Pawar too emphasised that India would not tolerate provocations by Pakistan. “No sovereign nation can simply watch in silence. The response had to be measured but firm,” he wrote on X.
Also Read: ‘Some screamed with every thud, others prayed’—J&K residents recall night of Operation Sindoor
5 pm: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while inaugurating 50 BRO infrastructure projects across six states and two UTs, in an apparent reference to Operation Sindoor, said Indian armed forces “scripted a new history” in the early hours of Wednesday.
“Indian armed forces took action with precision, alertness and sensitivity. The targets we decided were accurately demolished at the right time with precision,” he said, adding that armed forces showed “sensitivity” towards the civilian population in Pakistan.
“In a way, we can say Indian jawans showed precision, alertness and humanity. On behalf of the entire country, I congratulate the jawans and officers. I also congratulate PM Modi for supporting the armed forces,” he added.
4.30 pm: Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi confirms invitation to all-party meeting to be held Thursday. He tells reporters in New Delhi, “…we held discussions in the working committee. Full support to our forces. Best wishes to them. Much love to them. Complete support from the Congress party and Congress Working Committee.”
Shortly after, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters party leaders will attend the all-party meeting. “Rahul ji has clearly said that we are attending it…This is a matter of the country. We have been saying from the beginning, we have to be united. Let them call any meeting in the interest of the nation, our people will attend it and present their views.”
Meanwhile, J&K CM Omar Abdullah Wednesday chaired an emergency meeting to review security along the LoC.
4.15 pm: Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The two leaders discussed India’s “targeted and measured” response to cross-border terrorism originating in Pakistan. “Good to speak to PM & FM of Qatar. Discussed India’s targeted and measured response to deter cross-border terrorism,” Jaishankar wrote on X. READ MORE HERE
Around the same time, the foreign ministry briefed permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council on Operation Sindoor.
4 pm: Opening at 9:30 am, the Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark index (KSE-100) plummeted by 6,560.82 points, or 5.78 per cent at 107,007.68 from the previous day’s close. However, as the day progressed the index recovered to some extent. It peaked at 11 am to touch 112, 417 points. At 3.20 pm PST, it was trading at 109,966 depicting a decline of 3.28 percent. Key sectors like automobiles, chemicals, cement, cable and electrical goods, commercial banks, engineering, and food and personal care were in decline throughout the day. Nearly 375 company stock prices declined from the previous day, whereas 61 companies saw upward movement in their prices.
3.30 pm: NSA Ajit Doval, it is learnt, spoke with his counterparts in the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Japan. Doval also established contact with Russia’s Sergei Shogun, PRC’s Wang Yi & Diplomatic Adviser to President of France Emmanuel Bonne.
3 pm: Indian Army shares video of strike on Abbas terrorist camp at Kotli, 13 km from the Line of Control (LoC). This site, said the Army, was a nerve centre for training LeT suicide bombers.
OPERATION SINDOOR#JusticeServed
Target 1 – Abbas Terrorist Camp at Kotli.
Distance – 13 Km from Line of Control (POJK).
Nerve Centre for training suicide bombers of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Key training infrastructure for over 50 terrorists.
DESTROYED AT 1.04 AM on 07 May 2025.… pic.twitter.com/OBF4gTNA8q
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 7, 2025
2.30 pm: A team from the United Nations has arrived at a site in PoK, reported CNN citing inputs from a stringer in Pakistan. The report said two white-coloured UN vehicles were seen Wednesday in Muzaffarabad.
2 pm: In Islamabad, the National Security Committee meeting has concluded. Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif is expected to address the nation later today, according to a report by Dawn.
1.45 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called a meeting with chief ministers/administrators, police chiefs and chief secretaries of J&K, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim and West Bengal at 2 pm Wednesday.
1.30 pm: Prime Minister Modi is set to brief President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan shortly on Operation Sindoor; an all-party meeting has also been called at 11 am on 8 May during which two Union ministers are expected to brief NDA allies and opposition leaders on the strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK.
1.15 pm: PM Modi’s foreign visit to Croatia, Norway and the Netherlands has been postponed, as tensions rise between India and Pakistan following Indian armed forces’ Operation Sindoor, ThePrint has learnt. READ MORE HERE
1 pm: At least 10 civilians have been killed in cross-border shelling by the Pakistan army across the Line of Control in the Jammu sector, ThePrint has learnt. The incidents of shelling have left more than 40 people injured in the border district of Poonch. READ MORE HERE
12.45 pm: Rajasthan is on high alert with schools shut in four border districts—Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, and Barmer—as a precautionary measure. Rajasthan shares a 1,070 km-long border with Pakistan. (With inputs from PTI)
Also Read: As Op Sindoor targets its bases, a look at LeT’s terror hierarchy, from Hafiz Saeed to Sajid Gul
12.25 pm: Islamabad summons Indian chargé d’affaires Geetika Srivastava to protest strikes in Pakistan, PoK. In a statement, the Pakistan foreign ministry says Srivastava has been summoned to receive Pakistan’s “strong protest over the unprovoked Indian strikes at multiple locations across Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir”. READ MORE HERE
“It was conveyed that India’s blatant act of aggression constitutes a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty,” It says. It stresses that the strikes were in “contravention of the UN Charter, international law, and established norms governing inter-state relations”.
“Pakistan firmly rejected India’s baseless justifications for its hostile conduct. The Indian side was warned that such reckless behaviour poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability,” it adds.
11.35 am: A red alert has been declared across Uttar Pradesh following last night’s strikes by Indian armed forces on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
In a post on X, the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, confirms the heightened state of alert. “All UP Police field formations have been instructed to coordinate with defence units and strengthen the security of vital installations,” the DGP says.
11.20 am: In Islamabad, DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry is addressing a press conference—the second since India struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK.
A meeting of Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is underway, according to Dawn’s Islamabad Bureau Chief Sanaullah Khan. The session is being attended by federal ministers, chiefs of the three armed forces, and National Security Adviser Asim Mailk who is also chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
NSC is expected to receive a detailed briefing on the security landscape and escalating tensions between Pakistan and India. The discussion will focus on India targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan as part of Operation Sindoor launched after midnight Wednesday.
Authorities in Islamabad, have announced closure of all public and private schools in the capital city in the immediate aftermath of Operation Sindoor. In an official notification issued Wednesday, Islamabad District Magistrate says: “Due to the prevailing security situation, it is hereby notified that all the public & private sector schools and colleges within the jurisdiction of Islamabad Capital Territory shall remain closed on 07-05-2025.”
Also Read: Operation Sindoor: Explosions, blackouts, emergency announcements in Pakistan after India strikes
11 am: Qureshi and Singh add that targets were selected to avoid damage to civilian infrastructure and loss of civilian lives, and that use of niche technology weapons and careful selection of warheads was ensured to avoid collateral damage.
The point of impact in each target, says Singh, was a specific building or a group of buildings. She adds that all targets were neutralised with clinical efficiency.
Listing out the nine sites struck by Indian armed forces, they identified one of the targets as a terror camp where Ajmal Kasab and David Coleman Headley were trained.
The operation dubbed ‘Sindoor’ came a fortnight after terrorists shot and killed 25 Indians and a Nepalese national at Baisaran in Kashmir’s Pahalgam. The next day, the Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS) met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This was followed by a readout which, without naming Pakistan, said “cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out” during the briefing to the CCS.
10.55 am: Colonel Sofiya Qureshi briefs media on Operation Sindoor, says the operation was launched to give justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, adds that India struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK between 1.05 am and 1.30 am (IST) on 7 May, 2025. Wing Commander Vyomika Singh adds that Pakistan has over the last three decades built a complex terror infrastructure.
10.30 am: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri says Pakistan and Pakistan-directed terrorists carried out Pahalgam attack, which he referred to as the most serious terror attack against civilians on Indian soil since 26/11. Victims were shot at close range in front of family members who were told to pass message along, he says, adding that this attack was to disrupt return to normalcy in J&K. READ MORE HERE
Misri says the world should also take note of Pakistan’s efforts to have any reference to The Resistance Front (TRF) removed from a UNSC resolution in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan has gained reputation as a sanctuary for terror forces, he says while also mentioning the case of Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Sajid Mir, who Pakistan had wrongfully declared as dead.
He adds that India acted on intelligence suggesting the possibility of future attacks.
It was imperative that the attackers of Pahalgam be brought to justice, he says, adding that Pakistan took no tangible action against terror camps operating on its soil.
10 am: China, Israel and Türkiye have reacted to Indian armed forces striking terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in a statement termed what India is referring to as Operation Sindoor “regrettable”. It added, “We are concerned about the ongoing situation. India and Pakistan are and will always be each other’s neighbours. They’re both China’s neighbours as well. China opposes all forms of terrorism. We urge both sides to act in the larger interest of peace and stability, remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that may further complicate the situation.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador to India Reuven Azar said in a post on X that Israel “supports India’s right to self-defence” and that “terrorists should know there’s no place to hide from their heinous crimes against the innocent”.
According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar expressed “Türkiye’s solidarity with Pakistan against India’s unprovoked aggression violating Pakistan’s sovereignty and killing innocent civilians”.
9.45 am: The Indian tri-services press briefing to be held at the National Media Centre in New Delhi has been rescheduled to 10.30 am. This would mark the first official press briefing by the Indian armed forces on Operation Sindoor.
9 am: Indian armed forces to hold a press briefing on Operation Sindoor around 10 am.
4 am: News agency ANI has shared videos of “heavy exchange of artillery fire at LoC in J&K (exact location not being disclosed),” in what appears to be Pakistan’s initial reaction to precision strikes by Indian armed forces in Pakistan and PoK.
Also Read: Operation Sindoor strikes aren’t the ‘end’. It’s the first salvo of a long-drawn-out battle
3.45 am: In his first reaction to Indian armed forces striking terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a post on X terms it an “act of war imposed by India”.
He writes: “The cunning enemy has carried out cowardly attacks on five locations in Pakistan. Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given. The entire nation stands with the Pakistani armed forces, and the morale and spirit of the entire Pakistani nation are high.
“The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy. We will never allow the enemy to succeed in their nefarious goals.”
Earlier, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry who is director general of Pakistan military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) was quoted by the Pakistani daily Dawn as telling ARY News, “Some time ago from now, the cowardly enemy India launched air strikes on Subhanullah mosque in Bahawalpur’s Ahmed East area, Kotli and Muzaffarabad at three places from the air. All of our air force jets are airborne.
“This cowardly and shameful attack was carried out from within India’s airspace. They were never allowed to come and intrude into the space of Pakistan. Let me say it unequivocally: Pakistan will respond to this at a time and place of its own choosing. This heinous provocation will not go unanswered.”
3.30 am: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh writes on X: “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.” Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Piyush Goyal, besides Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu share similar posts.
US President Donald Trump reacts to Indian armed forces targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK. “It’s a shame. We just heard about it as we were walking in the doors of the Oval. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. They’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, if you think about it. I hope it ends very quickly.”
Also Read: Operation Sindoor: Explosions, blackouts, emergency announcements in Pakistan after India strikes