India Avenged Terror Attack In 22 Minutes, Says Modi

New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that no leader in the world told India to stop its Operation Sindoor and asserted that India showed the world that it will not bow down to Pakistan's nuclear blackmail.

“On the night of 9th May, the Vice-President of America tried to talk to me. He tried for an hour, but I was in a meeting with my Army, so I could not pick up his call. Later, I called him back. The Vice President of America told me on the phone that Pakistan is going to launch a big attack. My answer was that if Pakistan has this intention, it will cost them a lot. If Pakistan attacks, we will respond by launching a bigger attack. This was my answer... bullets will be responded by artillery (goli ka jawab gole se denge)," Modi said in his reply to the two-day debate on Operation Sindoor in Lok Sabha as he rejected the Opposition's charge that India budged under US pressure to call a ceasefire with Pakistan.

Attacking the Congress, Modi said that while India is becoming self-reliant, the Congress is now dependent on Pakistan for issues and has to now import their issues from it.

The Prime Minister said that the Congress and its allies have unfortunately, become spokespersons for Pakistani propaganda. "Indian armed forces conducted surgical strikes, and the Congress sought proof from the armed forces."

The opposition party has fallen to such a low that despite governing India for so long, it does not trust the country's establishment and its trust is guided by remote control in Pakistan, he said. "The world supported us, but, unfortunately, the valour of the armed forces did not receive support from the Congress," he said.

Modi stressed that only three of the 193 UN members spoke in favour of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister said that the Indian armed forces avenged the April 22 attack within 22 minutes with precision attacks.

"Right after the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Pakistan Forces had this idea that India would indeed take a major action. They started making nuclear threats. On the intervening night of 6-7 May, India took action just as decided. Pakistan could not do anything. Our armed forces avenged the April 22 attack within 22 minutes with precision attacks," he said.

In his 102-minute speech, Modi said that Pakistan's airbases and assets have suffered heavy damage during Operation Sindoor and to date, many of Pakistani airbases are in ICU.

"Terrorist bases were destroyed in each corner of Pakistan. No one could imagine that anyone could reach there. Bahawalpur and Muridke have also been razed to the ground. Our forces destroyed the terrorist bases. India has shown its technical capability. It has struck Pakistan precisely on the chest," said the Prime Minister.

"This is the era of technology-based war. If we had not made the preparations that we had made over the last 10 years, we could imagine how much loss we could have suffered in this era of technology. Through Operation Sindoor, for the first time, the world recognised the power of self-reliant India. Made-in-India drones and missiles exposed Pakistan's weapon system," said Modi

Pointing out that India achieved 100 per cent of its targets, he said India's air defence systems are now being talked about across the world for the way they repelled Pakistani attacks. “On May 9, Pakistan had launched 1,000 missiles and drones, which were destroyed by the Indian military in the skies itself, and they could not hit targets on the groun,d which could have caused huge damage.”

The Prime Minister said that after Operation Sindoor, the masterminds of terrorism are having sleepless nights. "This new normal has been set by India. 'Sindoor se leke Sindhu tak', we have taken action against Pakistan," said Modi, adding that, “Operation Sindoor is still on. If Pakistan dares to contemplate such misadventure yet again, it will get a befitting response from India."

The Prime Minister lauded India's military action as a "vijayotsav" (victory celebration) and told the House amid cheers from the treasury benches that he was presenting the "stand of Bharat".

"India destroyed Pakistan's military strength between May 9 and May 10. Pakistan now clearly understands that India's response will always get bigger and that India can do anything if it engages in any misadventure in future," he said.

After India hit the terror facilities, the Indian DGMO informed his Pakistani counterpart of the military action.

When Pakistan retaliated, the Indian armed forces taught it a lesson it will not forget for years, Modi said, adding that the neighbouring country was brought to its knees following Indian strikes in its different corners.

The Prime Minister cited comments of some Pakistanis, which appeared on social media, to stress their shock at the Indian attack. Their DGMO called up the Indian DGMO, saying, "Bas karo, bahut mara... Stop the attack." They could not bear it any more, he said.

The Prime Minister hit out at Congress saying it has always compromised on national security. "Those who are asking today why PoK was not taken back should first answer whose government allowed Pakistan to capture PoK. The answer is clear. Whenever I mention Nehru ji, Congress and its ecosystem get rattled... 'Lamhon ne khata ki, sadiyon ne saza paayi' (A moment of error turned into centuries of punishment) .. To date, the country is suffering the punishment of all the decisions that were taken since independence," said Modi.

He said that due to the weak governments of Congress, the country had to lose several lives. "Terrorism could have been reined in. Our government has made this happen in 11 years; this is big evidence of the same... A big reason behind terrorism thriving during the Congress regime is their politics of appeasement," said Mr Modi.

The Congress government under Jawaharlal Nehru lost over 38,000 km of the territory of Aksai Chin, he said and slammed the Indus Waters Treaty agreement that the first Prime Minister signed with Pakistan as a "big blunder". The Modi government has put the treaty in abeyance.

The Prime Minister took a dig at the Congress, saying some of its leaders were barred from speaking in Parliament, perhaps because they presented India's stand before the world on Operation Sindoor, which gave the party leadership jitters. Though the Prime Minister did not name anyone, he was referring to two Congress MPs, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, who did not speak in the debate on Operation Sindoor.

"Those who consider themselves big leaders of Congress are feeling pain as to why India's stand was presented before the world. Perhaps some leaders have been barred even from speaking in Parliament... There is a need to get rid of this mindset," he said.

Tharoor had led one of the seven multi-party delegations to the US and four other countries to present India's stand on Operation Sindoor and terrorism, while Tewari was a member of one such delegation. Both the Congress MPs did not participate in the debate in Lok Sabha on Monday and Tuesday.