After Operation Sindoor, Pakistan offers to 'wrap up tension if India backs down' | 10 points

Rattled by India's aggressive action against terrorism emanating from Pakistan's soil, the nation's defence minister, Khawaja Asif, on Wednesday said Islamabad “will wrap up this tension” if India “backs down”. The Indian armed forces executed the promised retaliation against terrorism in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, launching coordinated strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The terror installations, including training camps, belonged to the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits.

Also read: Indian strikes in Pakistan kill Jaish chief Masood Azhar’s 10 family members, 4 close aides

Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, died in the dastardly terror attack near Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. India has vowed to hunt down and punish the perpetrators of the attack. Before the military strikes against Pakistan, India launched a diplomatic and economic offensive as it suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, cancelled visas of Pakistani nationals and shut down its airspace and ports for Pakistani planes and ships.

Also read: ‘Communication nodes of terrorists in and to Pakistan revealed’: Foreign Secretary on Pahalgam attack

Here are 10 points on Operation Sindoor.

1. "We have been saying all along in the last fortnight that we’ll never initiate anything hostile towards India. But if we're attacked, we'll respond. If India backs down, we will wrap up this tension," Asif told Bloomberg. Regarding the possibility of talks, the minister said he was not aware of any such potential engagements.
2. Indian forces dismantled several terrorist training camps and launch pads used for unleashing attacks on India. Hours after the strikes, the central government said India exercised its right to respond, preempt as well as deter more cross-border attacks such as the one in Pahalgam, and asserted that it focused on dismantling the terror infrastructure and disabling terrorists.
3. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh addressed a press conference hours after the strikes. Speaking on Operation Sindoor, Misri said the investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack established Islamabad's links with terrorists. “Investigations into the Pahalgam terror attack have brought out the communication nodes of terrorists in and to Pakistan. The claims made by The Resistance Front and their reposting by known social media handles of the Lashkar-e-Taiba speak for themselves,” Misri said.
4. He said, based on the probe and eyewitness accounts, the attackers had been identified. “Identification of the attackers, based on eyewitness accounts as well as other information available to law enforcement agencies, has also progressed. Our intelligence has developed an accurate picture of the planners and backers of this team. The features of this attack also tie in with Pakistan's long-standing record of perpetrating cross-border attacks on India, which is well documented and beyond question,” he added.
5. Justifying India's action against terrorist installations in Pakistan and PoK, Misri said that intelligence agencies had inputs about impending attacks. "Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and prevent and hence earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond to deter such more cross-border terrorism," he said. He reiterated the Ministry of Defence's statement that India's actions against terrorists were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.
6. On Wednesday morning, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the Indian strikes an "act of war" and said his country had every right to give a “befitting reply.”
7. Ten civilians have died in Pakistan's ceasefire violations targeting border areas in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, home minister Amit Shah has directed the chiefs of all paramilitary forces to call back their personnel who are on leave in the wake of the strikes, reported PTI.
8. Russia has expressed deep concern at the escalation of military confrontation between India and Pakistan. "We are deeply concerned about the intensifying military confrontation between India and Pakistan after the terrorist attack near the city of Pahalgam,” Russia Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by state-run news agency TASS.
9. China called for restraint from both India and Pakistan. “China expresses regret over India’s military actions this morning and is concerned about the current developments. China opposes all forms of terrorism. We call on both India and Pakistan to prioritise peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the situation," it said. 
10. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely and hopes this “ends quickly”.

With inputs from agencies