"Presentation of our country's military, diplomatic and moral strength": Rajnath Singh hails PM Modi's address

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, asserting that it has made clear that any future talks with Pakistan will be solely on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

In a post on X, Rajnath Singh said that PM Modi had presented India's policy against terrorism to the world with great clarity and firmness.

"In his address to the nation today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put India's policy against terrorism before the whole world with great clarity and firmness. His address is not only an expression of India's sentiment, but it is also a presentation of our country's military, diplomatic and moral strength. The Prime Minister has also made it clear that if there are any talks with Pakistan in the future, then the talks will be only on terrorism and PoK," Singh said.


The Defence Minister also praised PM Modi for lauding the bravery and courage of the Indian Army during Operation Sindoor.

"He (PM) has also openly praised the valour and courage of the Indian forces during Operation Sindoor. The whole country is proud of the Indian forces. I thank the Prime Minister for his strong leadership," Rajnath Singh said.

Meanwhile, in his Address to the Nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India has only paused its retaliatory actions against terror sites and military installations in Pakistan.

He emphasised that New Delhi will monitor Islamabad's response in the coming days. Modi also declared that Operation Sindoor represents India's ongoing policy against terrorism, building on the surgical strikes of 2016 and the aerial strikes of 2019.

"I am repeating again, we have only paused our retaliatory action against terrorists and military installations in Pakistan. In the coming days, every step taken by Pakistan will be measured. India's Armed Forces, Air Force, Army, and Navy...along with the BSF and paramilitary forces, are alert along the Line of Control. After surgical strikes and air strikes, Operation Sindoor is now India's policy against terrorism," PM Modi said.

PM Modi said that over 100 terrorists were killed in India's precision strikes of May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.

"Terrorists had attacked the sindoor of our sisters; we destroyed the headquarters of terrorists. India's strike killed over 100 terrorists. Several top terrorists, who were roaming freely in Pakistan for the last two-three decades, conspiring against India, they have been killed in one stroke," he added.

India had launched a surgical strike on terror launch pads along the LoC in 2016 and aerial strikes on a terror camp in Pakistan in 2019.

Twenty-six people were killed in the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. India responded through Operation Sindoor and launched precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK), in which over 100 terrorists were killed.

The subsequent aggression by Pakistan was appropriately responded to by the Indian Armed Forces, who also pounded Pakistan's airbases.

The Prime Minister had earlier said that the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack would face punishment beyond their imagination.

India had also taken several steps to send a strong message to Pakistan over its support for cross-border terrorism and has put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.