The minister said this during his visit to see the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, that had been deployed with its fighter jets during ‘Operation Sindoor’ from May 7 to 10.
While addressing the Naval personnel, he said, “The Indian Navy succeeded in keeping the Pakistani armed forces tied down.”
“This time Pakistan did not have to face the fire power of the Indian Navy, but the world knows if Pakistan does any nefarious act, it is possible that the next time the Navy will open the account of firing,” the minister said.
INS Vikrant, a 45,000-tonne carrier, and its battle group, comprising submarines and other warships, maintained a secure ‘air-defence bubble’ for some 300 km, preventing any attack Pakistan could have launched from its coast off Karachi.
Rajnath Singh advised Pakistan to understand that the dangerous game of terrorism it had been playing was now over. “Now, whenever Pakistan will instigate any terrorist act against India, it will not only have to bear the consequences but, like always, will also have to face defeat.”
He added another warning, saying, “We will not hesitate to use methods that Pakistan cannot even think of.”
Since anti-India activities were being carried out openly from the Pakistani soil, India was free to carry out every kind of operation against terrorists, both on this side and that side of the border and the sea, Rajnath Singh added.
In an obvious unstated rebuttal to US claims of having stopped the two sides from going to war, the minister said, “No power in the world can stop India from doing its work against terrorism.”
He advised Pakistan that the best option it had was to uproot the nursery of terrorism operating on its soil and start by handing over terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India. Both of them are not only in the list of the “Most Wanted Terrorists” in India but they are also in the list of “UN-Designated Terrorists”.
Pakistan, he said, was repeatedly offering talks and its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had again reiterated this offer for talks. “India has clearly said that if there will be talks, they will be on terrorism, on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. If Pakistan is serious about talks, then it should hand over terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India so that justice can be done,” the Defence Minister said.
