Operation Sindoor: Rajnath Singh speaks with IAF, Army, Navy chiefs after India launches strikes in Pakistan

Operation Sindoor: Defence minister Rajnath Singh spoke with all three chiefs of armed forces, namely IAF, Army, Navy, after India launched missile strikes in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday, ANI reported citing sources. India launched Operation Sindoor in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in early hours of Wednesday to target terror camps situated there. This comes in the wake of Pahalgam attack which claimed 26 lives on April 22.

What is Operation Sindoor?

According to Ministry Of Defence, Operation Sindoor is “a precise and restrained response to the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack” in Pakistan and and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, “targetting the roots of cross-border terror planning”.

The name is a reference to the red vermillion that Hindu women wear to indicate their married status. In the Pahalgam terror attack, the husbands of some women were killed in front of them, comprising an Indian Navy officer.

Ministry of Defence on Operation Sindoor

"A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine sites have been targeted,” Ministry of Defence said in a statement at 1:44 am.

It added the Indian armed forces' actions have been "focused, measured and non-escalatory" in nature, including no Pakistani military facilities have been targetted.

Pakistan Foreign ministry after Operation Sindoor

"In an unprovoked and blatant act of war, the Indian Air Force, while remaining within Indian airspace, has violated Pakistan's sovereignty using standoff weapons, targeting the civilian population across the international border in Muridke and Bahawalpur, and across the Line of Control in Kotli and Muzaffarabad," Pakistan Foreign ministry said, PTI reported.

Operation Sindoor: Where were strikes targetted?

The strikes on all nine targets consisted of Bahawalpur and Muridke, which were were successful, PTI reported citing its sources.

Muridke, situated at a short distance from Lahore, is home to a sprawling "markaz" or base of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Bahawalpur is the key stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The other targets, namely Kotli and Muzaffarabad, are regions in PoK where both LeT and JeM have for long had camps and training facilities, according to sources in a PTI report.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was overseeing Operation Sindoor closely.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)