Forthright Articulation

Ajit Doval's candid defence of India's Operation Sindoor at the 62nd Convocation of IIT Madras last month challenged the biased foreign reportage and exposed Pakistan's hollow rebuttal

- SHANTANU MUKHARJI

Speaking at the 62nd Convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on July 11, Ajit Doval, India's National Security Advisor (NSA), categorically stated that India had smashed nine terror targets with surgical precision under Operation Sindoor, crisscrossing Pakistan, and challenged the foreign media to show "even one image" of the slightest damage to any Indian structure, as not even a "glass pane [had] been broken." This was in the wake of repeated misleading stories carried by Western media that failed to show India in the correct light.

On its part, Pakistan, obviously alarmed by these utterances, was quick to react to the NSA's forthright statement, contesting that his remarks were replete with "distortions and misrepresentations." It also alleged that they not only reflected a deliberate attempt to mislead the public but also violated the norms of responsible statecraft. Such acerbic and anti-India remarks were made by Shafqat Ali Khan, spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, who addressed a press conference when asked to comment on the Indian NSA's speech at IIT Madras on Operation Sindoor. It may be reiterated that Ajit Doval, in his address, said that "India missed none." Therefore, Pakistan's uncalled-for criticism is completely without basis and bereft of any cogent argument.

It, thus, spells out that Pakistan was hard hit by the Indian military strikes and it is now feeling shy to admit its reverses, with such faint, unconvincing and half-hearted rebuttals.