'At least 100 terrorists killed; Operation Sindoor still ongoing': Rajnath Singh at all-party meet

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday told the all-party meet that ' Operation Sindoor ', carried out by the Indian armed forces , killed over 100 terrorists, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.

While chairing the meeting, defence minister Rajnath Singh briefed the political parties about the precision strikes conducted by the forces on the terrorist spots located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied forces. He also said that Operation Sindoor is "still ongoing".

Leaders of several parties, including both opposition leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, were present at the meeting. It was also attended by home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, as well as BJP president and health minister JP Nadda.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters after the meeting that the al-party meet was convened to evolve a broad political consensus on the issue and leaders showed maturity and did not indulge in bickering.

"The entire nation is united with the government and the armed forces," Rijiju said.

Who said what in the meet

• Defence minister Rajnath Singh told leaders that 'Operation Sindoor' killed over 100 terrorists.
• Rajnath also said that the operation is still ongoing and India will hit back if Pakistan attacks in the wake of India's targeted strike.
• "The entire nation is united with the government and the armed forces," Rijiju said. He also said that the Defence Minister told the meeting that "we don't do politics just for forming governments, but also to build the nation".
• Political leaders also congratulated the armed forces for the action taken under 'Operation Sindoor.'
• Congress reiterated its support with the government "in the moment of crisis."
• "We wanted the PM to participate and briefly talk about the action against terrorism. We salute the jawans who have shown bravery. We wanted him to come and brief us but he did not. He had not even attend the last meeting," Kharge said.
• AIMIM chief Owaisi asked the government to run an international campaign against TRF. "We should run an international campaign against TRF and the UN Security Council should designate it as a terror organisation. We also need to ask the United States to designate TRF as foreign terrorist organisation in the country," Owaisi said.

This comes after the Indian Army conducted targeted strikes , eliminating nine terrorist bases belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen during 'Operation Sindoor' across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

The Indian Air Force executed precise attacks on four sites within Pakistan's borders, whilst five locations were targeted in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The Centre affirmed that the operation was "focused, measured and non-escalatory" and deliberately steered clear of Pakistani military installations.

The government said that it exercised its right to neutralise terrorists and their infrastructure following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu in Kashmir which claimed 26 lives.

During the press briefing, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the Pahalgam terrorist attack has exposed the links of Pakistan with terrorists.

"As you all know, on April 22, Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists, associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, launched a barbaric attack on tourists in Pahalgam. 25 Indians, and one Nepali citizen were cowardly murdered. This is the most serious incident since the 2008 Mumbai attack, considering that fact the civilians were attacked," Misri said.