Retaliating against the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces on early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pic/PTI
Following Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-nation tour to Europe has been called off in view of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, official sources told PTI on Wednesday.
PM Modi was scheduled to travel to Croatia, Norway and The Netherlands from May 13 to 17.
The prime minister was scheduled to visit Norway to attend the Nordic Summit.
The visit has been called off, the sources told PTI.
The respective countries have been informed about the decision, they said.
Retaliating against the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces on early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke.
The military strikes were conducted under Operation Sindoor two weeks after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
"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," the defence ministry said in a statement at 1.44 am.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the Indian missile strikes an "act of war" and said his country has every right to give a "befitting reply".
The Indian statement said, "No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution."
It said the actions by the Indian armed forces have been "focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature and that no Pakistani military facilities have been targeted.
The targets included Hizbul Mujahideen's facility in Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot, LeT's base in Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala and its camp in Muzaffarabad's Shawai Nalla. India also struck at JeM's Markaz Abbas facility in Kotli.
The carefully named Operation Sindoor is a reference to the vermilion that married Hindu women wear on their foreheads or in the parting of their hair to signify their marital status. It is a hat tip to the women who lost their husbands in the April 22 attack in the upper reaches of Kashmir's Pahalgam town.
India's actions came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack triggered widespread outrage in India and abroad.
"These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered," the defence ministry said in its statement.
"We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable," it said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
