

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2025-05-13 08:03:45
As Prime Minister Modi said in the address to the nation, India has achieved what it set out to do after the Pahalgam terror attack - it has destroyed terror hubs inside Pakistan by conducting surgical strikes, taking care not to hit any civilian or military installations. But when Pakistan responded by targeting India's civilian and military infrastructure and destroyed homes in cross-border firing, it was left with no options but to attack Pakistan military bases. In swift operations, India damaged several military airports and command bases in Pakistan, forcing the neighbor to call for ceasefire.
Several points made by the Prime Minister were telling. He rejected the nuclear threat and said that if acts of terrorism happened in India, the nation's security forces would pursue and kill the perpetrators deep inside Pakistan. Another point he made was that in such cases, India will not differentiate between the government sponsor of terrorism and the masterminds. Finally, he also warned Pakistan that Operation Sindoor had not been stopped and was on the pause mode - if there were more acts of terror by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, the response will be swifter and deadlier.
Pakistan must understand that this proxy-war must end. After Uri, the cost of terror has been successively hiked by India and Pakistan cannot indulge in such misadventures in the new normal. More importantly, the world community must wake up and acknowledge that the roots of terrorism worldwide are in Pakistan. It must stop funding the country and if it does, must examine the accounts of the money spent with a fine toothcomb to ensure it is not diverted for terrorism-related activities. Kashmir is just an excuse - Pakistan is still smarting under the 1971 shame of losing its eastern part and wants to inflict a thousand cuts on India, as hoped for by its generals and leaders who are no longer in command.