New Delhi: The Pakistan National Security Council (NSC) Wednesday authorised its military to “avenge the loss of innocent” Pakistanis at a “time, place, and manner of its choosing” following India’s Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which, according to reports from Pakistan, lasted for over two hours.
“In consonance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Pakistan reserves the right to respond, in self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty. The Armed Forces of Pakistan have duly been authorised to undertake corresponding actions in this regard,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement after the NSC meeting.
The armed forces, in line with the exercise of the right of self-defence, resolutely defended the territorial integrity of Pakistan, it added.
Between 1:05 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. early Wednesday morning, India launched Operation Sindoor, a series of precision strikes against nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including in Bahawalpur, located in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The 25-minute operation was described as “non-escalatory, measured, proportionate, and responsible” by Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Pakistan’s NSC labelled the strikes an “unlawful act of war” and claimed that the terrorist camps hit by India were “imaginary terrorist camps.”
“India’s act of aggression also caused grave danger to commercial airlines belonging to brotherly Gulf countries, endangering the lives of thousands of on-board passengers. Besides, the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project was also deliberately targeted in violation of international conventions,” the PMO asserted.
Islamabad specifically highlighted flights from West Asia—a region that has been a personal diplomatic focus for India in recent years. Pakistan’s airspace was closed for several hours during the early hours of Wednesday and has since been reopened for private air traffic.
The NSC “unequivocally condemned” Operation Sindoor as a “blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” India, however, has maintained that no military sites were attacked and that the selected sites were chosen with deliberate care to prevent the loss of civilian lives.
For over a fortnight, Pakistan has refused to take action against terrorist infrastructure within its borders and has instead focused on denying its links to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, according to Misri, which in part led to Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan Monday attempted to internationalise the issue at the United Nations Security Council but faced pushback from its members and encountered difficult questions regarding Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) role in the attacks, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
On Wednesday, Misri explained that the attack in Pahalgam, which left 26 tourists dead—including 25 Indians and one foreign national—was carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a smaller front for the Lashkar. The LeT is a proscribed organisation by the UN.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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