External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday informed a parliamentary consultative committee that Islamabad was alerted within 30 minutes of India launching Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), sources told media. The operation was conducted on the night of May 7.
"Within half an hour of Operation Sindoor commencing, Pakistan had been informed that only terrorist hideouts were being targeted. The ceasefire between the two countries came into effect following direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, initiated by Islamabad," sources quoted Jaishankar as saying.
The meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on External Affairs was chaired by S Jaishankar to discuss Operation Sindoor and the cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and was attended by MPs, including KC Venugopal, Manish Tiwari, Mukul Wasnik, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Aprajita Sarangi and Gurjit Aujla.
Sources present at the meeting said the Jaishankar assured members that India acted with precision, targeting only terror infrastructure, and promptly communicated this to Pakistan to avoid escalation.
Speaking about foreign interference, especially the US's role in the ceasefire, the External Affairs Minister said India's stance was communicated in ten words: "They fire, we fire. They stop, we stop". Jaishankar also added that when the US Secretary of State conveyed intelligence suggesting Pakistan might launch a large-scale retaliation, India responded firmly: "If Pakistan escalates, we are ready to respond in kind".
