India has no intention to escalate the situation with Pakistan, but any military attacks from the neighbouring country will be met with a “very, very firm response”, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday amid heightened tensions between the two sides.
Jaishankar, who made the televised remarks during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said India was compelled to carry out military strikes on “cross-border terrorist infrastructure” in response to the “particularly barbaric” terror attack at Pahalgam on April 22.
“This attack compelled us to respond on May 7 by striking at cross-border terrorist infrastructure. Our response was targeted and measured,” Jaishankar said in his brief opening remarks at the meeting. He noted that Araghchi was visiting at a time when India was responding to the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
“It is not our intention to escalate this situation. However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response,” he said.
India’s military carried out an action codenamed Operation Sindoor early on Wednesday that targeted terrorist infrastructure associated with groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This was the first time since the 1971 war that the Indian armed forces targeted Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}India’s military carried out an action codenamed Operation Sindoor early on Wednesday that targeted terrorist infrastructure associated with groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This was the first time since the 1971 war that the Indian armed forces targeted Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}The Pakistani military said 26 people were killed and 46 more injured in the strike. The Pakistan government has reserved the right to respond “at a time, place, and manner of its choosing” to India’s military strikes.
Ahead of his arrival in India, Araghchi made an unscheduled visit to Pakistan on Monday for meetings with the country’s top leadership. He then returned to Tehran before travelling to India for a trip scheduled several weeks ago to co-chair a meeting of the bilateral Joint Commission that largely focuses on economic and trade matters.
Last month, after tensions spiked between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 that killed 26 people, Araghchi offered to mediate between the two countries.
Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that India-Iran cooperation has “progressed in many aspects” though there are “also situations that we need to address”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Masoud Pezeshkian met in Russia in October 2024 and gave guidance for further developing ties, and had also spoken on the phone on April 26, he said.
India and Iran are also observing the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties. “It is a reminder of the closeness of our collaboration and the deep friendship between us. I am sure that we will mark the anniversary appropriately,” Jaishankar said.