Over 100 terrorists were killed in Operation Sindoor - India's military response to Pakistan and the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack - Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at a briefing of opposition leaders Thursday afternoon.
Rajnath also warned Pakistan - which reports indicate is considering a military response of its own - against escalating the conflict any further.
Sindoor is an "ongoing operation", the Defence Minister told the opposition. India does not want to have to carry out further strikes, he said, but will hit back again if Pak forces attack.
The all-party meeting, called by the Centre, was to brief the Opposition leaders about the Army’s one of the most expansive operations against terror camps and infrastructure, across the border.
Top leaders of all parties, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and others, attended the meeting.
As Rajnath Singh briefed the Opposition, all parties lauded the Army’s action and extended support to the government in its endeavour to crush terrorism emanating from foreign soil.
Speaking to the media, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijuju said that all parties lauded the Armed Forces and spoke in one voice against terror.
“All parties showed solidarity with the government. All of them agreed that there was no scope for politics in matters of national security, and all spoke on similar lines. They complimented the armed forces and assured full support to the government,” he said.
He further said that all parties showed political maturity and expressed unambiguous support for the Armed Forces as well as the government.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, told the media, "We have extended our full support to the government.”
Mallikarjun Kharge said, "In the meeting, the Centre informed us about Operation Sindoor. We told them that we are with the government."
AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi also congratulated the Armed forces on the successful operation and went a step ahead, asking the government to start building diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to designate The Resistance Front (TRF), the group claiming responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, as a terrorist organisation.
"I complemented the Armed Forces as well as the Government for Operation Sindoor. We should begin an international campaign against TRF to get it designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council. We must also seek US support in declaring it a terrorist outfit," he said.
