'Wherever they are...': Indian NSA Ajit Doval reveals PM Modi's first reaction after Pahalgam terror attack

National Security Advisory (NSA) Ajit Doval has revealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first reaction after the Pahalgam terror attack and said that the PM was determined to go after those who were responsible, irrespective of whether they are on “earth, sky or in hell.” Doval also recalled how the PM cut-short his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to Delhi after the Pahalgam attack. “As soon as he returned, the Prime Minister held a meeting at the airport itself. First he wanted to know all the facts. Then his first question to me was who has done it? Who is behind it? We should be very clear on who the perpetrators are. I want it immediately,” he said. The Prime Minister’s message was clear, Doval said. “We will go after them. Zameen mein ho, aasman mein ho, paatal mein ho, woh log jahan bhi hai (Whether they are on earth, in the sky or in hell, wherever they are). We will not forgive (them),” he added. The top security official made the comments in the upcoming Discovery docuseries “Declassified: Operation Sindoor”.

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Doval said that through Operation Sindoor, PM Modi sought to send a message that the fight against terror will only be over “when the last terrorist is eliminated.” "We wanted the Pakistani army to realise that this support of terrorism or inability to take effective action against the terrorists is something which is not tolerable to us,” Doval said. “Once anything starts, we are willing to go as far as it is necessary for our nation, to protect its sovereignty, there is no limit on that. You fight till the last drop of the blood,” he added.

“When the Prime Minister says that Operation Sindoor is alive, his intention is that the fight against terror will only be over till the last terrorist is eliminated,” he said.The NSA “Thanks to our intelligence agencies. They did a very great job in a very short time, we were able to arrive at a conclusion,” he added.

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Operation Sindoor

India launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 7-8, 2025 as a response to the terror attack in Pahalgam. The Indian forces carried out a series of precision strikes targeting nine terror targets, including terror camps and launchpads, in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). At 1.28 am, the official handle of the Indian Army, ADGPI, tweeted: Praharay Sannihitaah, Jaya Prakshitayaah, meaning: 'Ready to Attack, Trained for Victory'. From 1.28 AM and 1.51 AM, loud explosions were heard in Muzaffarabad, Bahawalpur (in Pakistan’s Punjab province), and other areas. At 1.51 AM, the Army tweeted again: "#PahalgamTerrorAttack Justice is Served. Jai Hind!"

India called the strikes a “focused, measured and non-escalatory" and said that it was in response to the recent attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where terrorists brutally killed 26 civilians after identifying and segregating them. India confirmed that its strikes have killed at least five dreaded terrorists from terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and 100 others.