PoK Will Return to India Voluntarily, Says Rajnath

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday indicated that India could have hit Pakistan harder during the May 7-11 military confrontation that sparked fears of a full-blown war, hailed the performance and reach of locally made weapons and systems deployed during Operation Sindoor and said that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) would voluntarily reunite with India.

- Rahul Singh

NEW DELHI:

"We destroyed the terrorist hideouts and then the military bases. We could have done a lot more, but we presented a great example to the world of how we balanced power and restraint," he said at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025.

Operation Sindoor was New Delhi's military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike. It triggered four days of strikes and counterstrikes with fighter jets, missiles, drones, long-range weapons and heavy artillery before the two sides reached an understanding on stopping all military action on May 10.

The use of indigenous weapons and systems during the operation showed that India has the capability to punch through the enemy's armour, Singh said.

A locally developed air defence control and reporting system, called Akashteer, emerged as the centrepiece of India's air defence grid during the four-day clash; it punctured multiple waves of Pakistani aerial attacks on Indian military installations, airbases and civilian areas by guaranteeing prompt detection and targeting of the incoming threats.