PM denies foreign pressure to stop Op Sindoor offensive

Rejecting Opposition criticism that he succumbed to US President Donald Trump's pressure to call off India's offensive against Pakistan on May 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted in the Lok Sabha that no leader of any country asked New Delhi to stop Operation Sindoor.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

He said that Pakistan, despite having an inkling of India's response to the terror attack, could do little when India's armed forces destroyed terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan within 22 minutes on the intervening night of May 6 and 7 to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam attack.

In his 100-minute speech in the Lok Sabha on the "special discussion on India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor", the PM said India's strong action against terror has spurred the "Sindoor spirit" across the country, a spirit that was also on display when Indian delegations visited world capitals to put forth the country's case. He said the delegations performed their task creditably.

Alluding to the Congress not fielding its MPs Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Amar Singh, who were part of the delegations, during the discussion, Modi said he is surprised that the Congress has banned some of its leaders from speaking in the House as the Lok Sabha TV cut away from the PM to show Tharoor.

Earlier in the day, in a social media post, Tewari quoted lines from the song 'Bharat ka rehne wala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon' from Manoj Kumar-starrer 1970 movie Purab aur Pashchim as his reaction to media reports on being "benched" by his party during the discussion on Operation Sindoor. Asked about his post, Tewari told reporters on Parliament House premises, "There is a saying in English — if you don't understand my silence, you will never understand my words."