In his address to the nation on the 79th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about Operation Sindoor, an action by India’s armed forces that targeted terrorist sites in Pakistan. He stated the operation was a response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, where individuals were killed after being asked their religion.
“I am very proud that from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I am getting the opportunity to salute the heroes of Operation Sindoor,” PM Modi said. “Our brave jawans punished the enemy beyond its imagination.”
He described the Pahalgam attack on April 22nd as a massacre that outraged all of India. The government, he said, gave the armed forces “a free hand” to respond to the attack by deciding the “strategy, target, and time.”
“Our Forces did what had never been done for several decades. We entered hundreds of kilometres into the enemy soil and razed their terrorist headquarters to the ground,” PM Modi said. He added that the destruction in Pakistan was so significant that new details were still being revealed.
PM Modi warned that India would not differentiate between terrorists and those who support them. He emphasized that the armed forces would respond to any future “misadventure” from Pakistan and that India would no longer tolerate “nuclear blackmail.”
He also addressed the Indus Water Treaty, calling it “one-sided” and an “injustice to the people of India.” PM Modi asserted that India’s farmers have the sole right to the country’s share of the Indus river waters.
“The rivers of India were irrigating the enemy country while our farmers were deprived of water,” he stated. “India has decided that blood and water will not flow together.”
