Opposition should propose alternative if it thinks Op Sindoor was wrong: Rajnath Singh

Hailing Operation Sindoor as a game changer in India’s fight against terrorism, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday remarked that opposition parties should propose an alternative if they disagree with the government’s response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

“In a democracy, both the government and the opposition have responsibilities…If anyone thinks that it was not an appropriate action, they must tell the people what the alternative is,” Singh said.

He stated that the “policy bankruptcy” of the opposition has become a problem for the country.

Initiating a discussion on the Pahalgam attack and India’s subsequent response — Operation Sindoor — in the Rajya Sabha, the defence minister reiterated that the purpose of Operation Sindoor was not to start a war but to compel the enemy to submit, and added that the operation was paused only after Pakistan conceded defeat.

“On the morning of May 10, when the Indian Army targeted multiple Pakistani airfields, Pakistan suffered massive losses. Soon after, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations called to halt the operation. It was stopped on the condition that it would not be considered terminated. If Pakistan commits another act of terrorism, we will not hesitate to resume the operation,” Rajnath said.

Referring to Opposition criticism, the Defence Minister stated that the Opposition should be asking whether India destroyed terror targets in Pakistan, if Operation Sindoor was successful, and whether the Indian Armed Forces eliminated the patrons of terror responsible for the Pahalgam attack, who had wiped ‘sindoor’ off the foreheads of our daughters and mothers.

“The answer to all these questions is a resounding yes. And if you ask whether any soldier was harmed, the answer is no. When goals are big, we should not focus on small issues because small issues deflect us from larger matters of national security and interest of our armed forces,” said the Defence Minister, sidestepping queries about the loss of Indian jets during Operation Sindoor.

Singh referred to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to draw a comparison in the response of the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the current BJP-led NDA government. He underlined that he is not criticising the then Congress-led government and remarked, “They did what they thought was appropriate after the Mumbai attack. I just want to tell you that today’s India is different; it doesn’t believe in submitting dossiers, but enters into the adversary’s territory and hits them.”

Singh also called Operation Sindoor a real-time expo of India’s defence prowess and said that the defence exports will increase to Rs 50,000 crore by 2030.

He said that India is becoming self-reliant in the defence sector.

In his over one-hour address to the Rajya Sabha, Singh criticised Pakistan for being a “nursery of terrorism”.

He said the Pakistan army and the ISI have both been promoting terrorism to destabilise India.

The Defence Minister also expressed dissatisfaction over the United Nations Security Council’s decision of making Pakistan head of counter-terrorism panel. “This is a very bad joke on the fight against terrorism,” he said.