After Operation Sindoor, preparing for the future

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, while addressing graduates at the convocation ceremony at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, challenged the international media to show a photograph of even one window pane in an Indian facility broken by Pakistan’s armed forces after it launched Operation Bunyan al Mar-soos as a counter to Operation Sindoor against Pakistan-based jihadists who were behind the Pahalgam massacre of 26 civilians on April 22.

- Shishir Gupta

The NSA’s comment has to be read in the backdrop of evidence that indicates Pakistan fired not less than 840 missiles at India after nine terror factories were targeted by the Indian armed forces.

While Indian experts are in the process of examining the missile debris and recovered unexploded Chinese missiles fired by Pakistan, not a single military target — brigade headquarters, air defence batteries, air bases or even an observation balloon — in India was hit by enemy missiles between May 7 and May 10.

Also, not one Scalp, Rampage or Crystal Maze missile launched by India at Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) headquarters in Muridke and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) headquarters in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, was intercepted by Pakistan's antimissile batteries. This was despite Pakistan's radars, air defence batteries and surface-to-air missile units being on red alert after Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi signalled military retaliation against terrorists and their supporters in Pakistan at a rally in Madhubani, Bihar, on April 24, two days after the Pahalgam massacre.