India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri along with Col Sofiya Qureshi, and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh addressed a press conference on Friday (May 9) and called out Pakistan's provocative actions that were taken by Pakistan on the night of May 8. Misri said that Pakistan targeted Indian cities and civilian infrastructure in addition to some military targets. 

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Slamming Pakistan for spreading false news claiming that India attacked its cities and religious places, Misri set the record straight by saying, "Pakistan made a preposterous claim that it was the Indian Armed Forces who were targetting cities like Amritsar and put the blame on Pakistan - this is nothing but a desperate attempt by Pakistan to disown its act of aggression but it is also true to type in its effort to mislead the world - It will not succeed. The Gurudwara in Poonch was attacked by Pakistan...That we would attack our own cities is the kind of deranged fantasy that only Pakistan can come up with."

Misri further slammed the Pakistani administration by saying, "The official and blatantly farcical denial of these attack that Pakistan carried out by Pakistan state machinery is yet another example of their duplicity and new depths they are planting in their campaign for disinformation."

"The disinformation that is coming from Pakistan that India targetting the Nankana Sahib Gurudwara through drone attack, this is a blatant lie, as we saw in the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan is trying desperately to give a communal hue to the situation with an intention to create discord...India's steadfast unity in itself is a challenge to Pakistan," he added.

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Operation Sindoor 

The Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 from 1.05 am to 1.30 am. Briefing the country on Operation Sindoor, women officers Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri informed that India exercised its right to respond and hit nine terror targets, including terror camps and launchpads, in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). They said that India's actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.

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The Indian Defence Ministry in a press release said on May 8 that India is committed to non-escalation but won't shy away from providing a suitable response to Pakistan. As per the press release, on the night of 07-08 May 2025, "Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India." Using drones and missiles, Pakistani forces targeted several civilian areas in the region, including the cities of Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj and India responded.

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Pahalgam terror attack

A terror attack on April 22 in Baisaran Valley of Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam district killed 26 tourists. An offshoot of the banned Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) - The Resistance Front (TRF) - claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the attack, India launched a series of actions against Pakistan. The Indian government put into abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty, expelled its diplomats, called back Indian officials from Islamabad, and closed the Attari border, its airspace for Pakistani flights and ships, parcels and imports from Pakistan. New Delhi has also blocked the Instagram accounts of several Pakistani cricketers and celebrities.

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