Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri with IAF officer Wing
Commander Vyomika Singh and Army's Colonel Sofiya Qureshi during a press
conference, in New Delhi, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
NEW DELHI — India on Saturday said it had hit eight military installations in
Pakistan in response to the neighbouring country's "provocative"
action of targeting its defence infrastructure and civilian areas using drones,
long-range weapons and fighter jets.
The Pakistani installations hit included a weapons depot
and control centres, India's military said as the two countries teetered on the
brink of full-scale war.
Pakistan is also moving its troops into forward areas,
indicating an "offensive intent", to further escalate the situation,
an Indian military spokesperson said. India, stressed Colonel Sofiya Qureshi,
remains in a high state of operational readiness.
As fears of a larger military conflict loomed, Qureshi
said Indian armed forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided
it is reciprocated by the Pakistani military.
She was addressing a special press briefing along with
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Misri said India has responded to the Pakistani
military's "provocative" and "escalatory" actions in a
measured manner and that Islamabad has resorted to a wanton campaign of
targeting innocent people and civilian infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and
Punjab.
The fresh military offensives by the two sides since last
night mark the most severe confrontation following India striking terrorist
infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir in the early hours of
May 7. Conducted under Operation Sindoor, it was in retaliation for the April
22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 people were killed.
Briefing reporters on the events since Thursday night,
Qureshi said Pakistan in a "cowardly" act attacked a medicare centre
and school premises at air bases of Srinagar, Awantipora and Udhampur. Several
"high-speed missile" attacks were noticed after 1.40 am at several
air bases in Punjab causing some damage, she said.
Pakistan used drones, long-range weapons, loitering
munitions, jets to attack India's military sites along the Western front,
Qureshi said. All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded
appropriately, she said.
"In a swift and calibrated response, Indian armed
forces carried out precision attacks only on identified military targets,"
she said.
Pakistani military targets at Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala,
Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian were engaged using air-launched precision
weapons from Indian fighter jets and the retaliation largely focused on command
and control centres, radar sites and weapon storage areas, Qureshi said.
Radar sites at Pasrur and the Sialkot aviation base were
also targeted using precision munitions, she said, adding that India ensured
minimum collateral damage while carrying out these responses.
Wing Commander Singh added that the Pakistani military
continued with its "provocations", carrying out "aggressive
actions" employing multiple threat vectors all along the western border.
Pakistan military also resorted to air intrusions using
drones and firing of heavy calibre weapons along the Line of Control (LoC), she
said.
Along the international border and the LoC, air
intrusions and several "harassment attacks" were also attempted from
Srinagar till Naliya at more than 26 locations, the officer added.
"Indian armed forces successfully neutralised these
threats and the majority of the vectors. However, limited damage was sustained
to equipment and personnel at Indian air force stations at Udhampur, Pathankot,
Adampur and Bhuj," she added.
The helicopter pilot said Pakistan also attempted to
execute a continued malicious misinformation campaign with claims of
destruction of Indian S-400 system at Adampur, destruction of airfields at
Suratgarh and Sirsa, BrahMos base at Nagrota, artillery gun positions at
Dehrangyari and Chandigarh Forward Ammunition Depot.
India unequivocally rejects these false narratives being
spread by Pakistan, she said.
The officer also showed some images of air force bases in
the Punjab and Rajasthan sectors, debunking the Pakistani claims of causing
destruction at these facilities.
"You can also see the normalcy at these air force
stations," she said, showing images of runways remaining
"intact" at the Sirsa and Suratgarh air force bases.
Qureshi said Pakistan attempted multiple air intrusions
using drones and conducted shelling using heavy-calibre artillery guns along
the LoC, targeting civilian infrastructure and killing some civilians.
Heavy exchange of artillery mortars and small-arm fire in
Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors continued and Indian
Army has responded effectively and proportionately, causing extensive damage to
Pakistan Army, she noted.
In his remarks at the briefing, Misri described as
"false" Pakistan's allegations that Indian missiles have hit
Afghanistan.
"This is yet again a completely ludicrous claim that
Indian missiles have hit Afghanistan. Totally frivolous allegation."
As tensions between India and Pakistan soared, the
powerful Group of Seven (G7) nations urged India and Pakistan to exercise
maximum restraint and called for immediate de-escalation of the situation
through dialogue.
In a phone conversation with External Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised that India and
Pakistan need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct
communication to avoid miscalculation.
He further proposed the US support in facilitating "productive
discussions" between the two sides to "avert future disputes",
US Statement Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Separately, Saudi Arabia said it was making efforts to
de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan, end current military confrontations,
and promote the resolution of all disputes through dialogue and diplomatic
channels.
