New Delhi: Amidst Pakistan’s attempt to portray India’s Operation Sindoor as an attack on mosques and civilians, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri emphasised that the precision strikes were aimed at terror complexes during a briefing with the envoys of the member-states of the United Nations Security Council Wednesday, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources said that Misri made it clear that the attack focused on nine terror complexes in Pakistan, where India had “credible evidence” that the specific facilities were “arenas where terrorists were trained” and used as launchpads for cross-border terrorism.
When specifically quizzed by the envoys present at the briefing on the claims of civilian casualties and attacks on mosques, Misri is said to have explained that such terror complexes have areas, such as training areas for terrorists, playgrounds and other facilities.
The foreign secretary briefed the envoys representing all five permanent members of the UNSC, including the acting Charge D’Affaires of the US, the Charge D’Affaires of France, the ambassadors of China, Russia and the UK, along with eight other envoys representing the non-permanent members of the international body. The briefing lasted for about 20 minutes.
The current non-permanent members of the UNSC include Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Republic of Korea, Slovenia and Somalia. Two other non-permanent members of the UNSC were not present—Sierra Leone, which does not have an embassy in India, and Pakistan.
The briefing by Misri comes after India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting nine terror complexes across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The operation comes in the wake of the 22 April terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which left at least 26 dead, including 25 Indians and one foreign national. The attack was the most significant one against civilians in recent years.
The Indian foreign secretary informed the envoys that for New Delhi, the escalation first began with the terrorist attack emanating from Pakistan. Misri is said to have emphasised the fact that Pakistan lobbied the UNSC heavily to ensure that its statement on the terrorist attack did not mention The Resistance Front (TRF), a wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which had first claimed responsibility for the attack and then withdrawn it days later. The lobbying by Islamabad indicates the designs of the government of Pakistan with regards to the Pahalgam attacks, the secretary said.
Earlier Wednesday morning, during a special media briefing, Misri pointed out that India had twice in the last year shared information to the United Nations 1267 committee of the role TRF plays as a front for the proscribed organisation LeT.
Pakistan has made it clear that Operation Sindoor constitutes an “act of war”, and has authorised its military to respond at a time and a manner of its choosing.
When quizzed on the expected retaliation by the envoys present at the briefing, Misri pointed out that India has no terror facilities and any attack by Pakistan would be on civilian facilities, pointing to the situation in Poonch, where civilian facilities have been hit from across the border, the sources said. Any such attack on Indian civilian infrastructure would lead to further retaliation.
India has responded to a terrorist attack striking at terrorist facilities in a “non-escalatory, measured and responsible manner”, said foreign secretary during the press briefing in the morning. He is said to have reiterated this point to the envoys later in the evening.
The sources added that India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York City will also be holding briefings with the UN representatives of the members of the UNSC going forward, as India continues to press its diplomatic case for Operation Sindoor.
Global leaders have called for de-escalation and restraint, including the permanent members of UNSC. Only Türkiye and Azerbaijan have condemned Operation Sindoor so far. Both countries are close allies of Pakistan. China called the operation “regrettable”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also deferred his tri-nation visit to the European countries of Croatia, Norway and the Netherlands, which was scheduled for 13 May till 17 May, as tensions continue between India and Pakistan.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)