India-Pak news | 'Fight was with terrorists, Pak army made it their war': Air Marshal AK Bharti at Operation Sindoor briefing

In the second edition of the special Operation Sindoor Air Marshal AK Bharti made it clear that India's fight was with the terrorists and not the Pakistani army. Reiterating the fact, he said, 'the damage to Pakistan was something they brought upon themselves.'

"Our fight was with terrorists and their support infrastructure and not with Pakistan military," said Air Marshal AK Bharti

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"However, it is a pity that the Pakistan military chose to intervene and bat for the terrorists, which compelled us to respond in kind," he added.

Talking about the combat situation, he said, "Our battle-proven systems stood the test of time and take them head on. Another highlight has been the stellar performance of the indigenous air defence system, the Akash system.Putting together and operationalising the potent AD environment has been possible only because of budgetary and policy support from the government of India in the last decade."

Operation Sindoor has been a success, for it thwarted the aggression from the Pakistani side, "Numerous waves of drones and unmanned combat aerial vehicles employed by Pakistan were also thwarted by the indigenously developed soft and hard kill counter-UAS systems and the well-trained Indian Air Defence personnel."

India has been clear on it's stance as it launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation to the dastardly attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, "It was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the 22 April attack be brought to justice. Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terror infrastructure on its territory or territory under its control."

He added, "Instead, all it has indulged in denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending. Thus, there was a compulsion both to deter and to preempt."

A fortnight later, India continues to mourn the death of innocent tourists, who we brutally killed in front of their loved ones. The images have numbed the country and they were angered by the dastardly attack. After the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, this one shook the nation.