Manama [Bahrain], May 25 : Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said that Operation Sindoor launched by India in response to the Pahalgam terror attack was not intended to be against people in Pakistan, but against the terrorist infrastructure in the neighbouring country and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
"Operation Sindoor was not intended to be against the people of Pakistan but against the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK. I congratulate our armed forces that none of the civilians of Pakistan were killed, as only terrorists were killed, and some family members of terrorists. But the sad part is that Pakistan blindly fired in our border areas, and they intentionally attacked our civilians," Azad, who is part of an all-party delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Baijayant Panda, told ANI.
He said that even after "trying to have good relations with neighbours", India has faced terrorist attacks from the other side of the border.
"We are happy to meet the Indian diaspora; they came in large numbers. Be it any government, all our prime ministers have always tried to have good relations with our neighbours, including Pakistan. They always held talks with the Pakistan leadership, but after every such initiative, India faced terrorist attacks from the other side of the border," Azad said.
Meanwhile, Panda said that the "changed doctrine" of India to deal with terrorism will impose a cost on Pakistan.
He further stated that Pakistan has been fostering terrorism for many decades and discussions were held with Indian diaspora leaders on how India's changed doctrine was going to impose a cost on Pakistan.
"They are, of course, aware of the situation, and we gave them a lot of facts and figures about how Pakistan has been fostering terrorism for so many decades, and our changed doctrine that we will impose a cost on Pakistan," Panda told ANI.
Panda, leading a multi-party delegation to Bahrain, praised the Indian community residing on foreign soil and said that they represent the voice of 140 crore Indians and the country's growing "soft power".
The delegation, consisting of BJP MPs Panda, Nishikant Dubey, Phangnon Konyak, Rekha Sharma, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and former foreign secretary Harsh Shringla, will now visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Algeria.
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