India not interested in initiating war with Pak, will reply to its aggression: Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that India has no interest in initiating a war against Pakistan, but he was certain that the country would give a strong reply if its civilian, military, or government establishments were attacked by its neighbour. Tharoor, speaking to reporters here, said that India gave a "calibrated response" to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, but "we have no intention of escalating it further".

"We had to reply to the terror attack and we did that. We did that by targeting terrorist base camps and at night to prevent any civilian casualties. We gave a calibrated response.

"Now, 15 persons died and around 59 have been injured in heavy artillery shelling by Pakistan at Poonch and our forces are replying to that also. But, we do not intend to escalate it," he said.


The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said that India is not escalating the matter into a war to show the world that "our behaviour is responsible".

"We did not hit Pakistani government or military installations, even though we know they are behind the terror attack. It clearly indicates we are not interested in a war.

"But, if Pakistan attacks our military or government installations or civilian locations, as we do not have any terror camps here, we will surely give a strong reply. I have no doubt about it. But, we will not initiate it," he said.

Tharoor also said that all party meetings held before and after the Indian Army's Operation Sindoor shows that the country was standing as one with its armed forces.

In retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.

The military strikes were carried out under Operation Sindoor two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Kashmir's Pahalgam.