'Pahalgam Attackers Communicating With Pakistan-Based Handlers, Our Response Proportionate': Govt

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday (May 7) said the investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack have brought out the communication nodes between the perpetrators of the attack and their Pakistan-based handlers.

Speaking at a press briefing held hours after "Operation Sindoor" – India's military strikes against ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir –, Misri also underlined that India had warned the UN’s monitoring body as early as 2023 that the group claiming responsibility was a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

'Strikes measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible'

Although the press briefing was held by the Indian Army, it was the foreign secretary who led with a detailed explanation of the rationale behind the missile strikes, which India described as “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible.”

He emphasised that the strikes were pre-emptive, based on intelligence that Pakistan-based terror modules were preparing further attacks on India. Misri pointed out that two weeks had passed since the Pahalgam killings, which left 26 civilians dead, with “no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory.” The missile strikes, he said, were “thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt.”

Misri also said the attack appeared designed to disrupt normalcy in Kashmir and damage its tourism sector, while seeking to stoke communal tensions.

“The manner of the attack was also driven by an objective of provoking communal discord, both in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the nation. It is to the credit of the government and the people of India that these designs were foiled,” Misri said.

For the first time, Misri revealed that investigators had uncovered communication records between the Pahalgam attackers and their contacts in Pakistan. Referring to ‘The Resistance Front’ (TRF), which claimed responsibility for the attack, he reiterated that it is a “front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.”

The foreign secretary also asserted that “reposting” of TRF’s claim of responsibility by “known social media handles of the Lashkar-e-Taiba speak for themselves”.

“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,” he stated.

He added that India had submitted inputs about TRF to the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee monitoring team in its half-yearly reports in May and November 2024, identifying it as a cover for Pakistan-based terror groups. Misri said similar warnings had been conveyed even earlier, in December 2023, when India informed the UN team that LeT and JeM were operating through smaller fronts such as TRF.

The 1267 Sanctions Committee enforces UN sanctions against listed terror groups and individuals, while its monitoring team tracks developments and assesses emerging threats.

Misri also pointed to Pakistan’s role in the removal of TRF references from the final UN Security Council press statement on the Pahalgam attack as further evidence of its involvement. “Pakistan's pressure to remove references to TRF in the April 25 UN Security Council Press Statement is notable in this regard,” he said.

As The Wire had earlier reported, a draft of the statement circulated by the United States included references to TRF, which were dropped following objections from Pakistan. Islamabad, currently a non-permanent member of the UNSC till 2027, also reportedly resisted language that would have called on member states to cooperate with India in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Both those elements had been included in the Council’s 2019 statement condemning the Pulwama terror attack, which preceded India’s earlier cross-border air strikes.

Incidentally, Misri said India’s missile strikes of May 7 should also be viewed in the context of the Security Council’s April 25 statement, which called for holding “perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring[ing] them to justice”.

He added that the features of the attack tied in with Pakistan's “long track record of perpetrating cross-border terror in India, which is well documented and beyond question”. Pakistan, he said, also had a “well-deserved reputation” as a haven for terrorists, where “internationally proscribed terrorists enjoy impunity”.

Misri accused Islamabad of having misled the international community and forums such as the Financial Action Task Force on its counter-terror commitments. “The Sajid Mir case, in which this terrorist was declared dead and then, in response to international pressure, brought back to life, found alive and arrested, is the most glaring example,” he said. Pakistan had been on FATF’s grey list of high-risk jurisdictions for six years, before being removed in October 2022.

Two women officers address press briefing on 'Operation Sindoor'

Keeping with its messaging of Operation Sindoor, following the Pahalgam terror attack which saw the targeted killing of men in front of women and children, the briefing was addressed by two women officers Col. Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh-who provided details of India’s strikes on Wednesday morning.

"Operation Sindoor was launched by Indian armed forces to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attacks and their families. Nine terror camps were targeted and successfully destroyed,” said Singh.

“Over the last three decades, Pakistan has systematically built terror infrastructure. It is a complex web of recruitment and indoctrination centres, training areas for initial and refresher courses and launchpads for handlers. These camps are located both in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir areas. Some of the well known training camps are located (here). They are distributed from Sawai Nala in the north ending at Bahawalpur to the south.”

While Pakistani officials have said that civilians were targeted in the attack, the claims were rejected by the Indian armed forces.

Singh said that the selection of the targets was based on “credible intelligent inputs and role of these facilities in perpetrating the terror activities” and the locations were selected to “avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives.”

“This was done with due diligence,” she said.

In the briefing, Qureshi provided details of the location and character of each of the camps that were targeted including their role in recent terror attacks in India. The targets in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir included – Sawai Nala, Syedna Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abbas in Kotli, and Barnala in Bhimber.

The camps targeted inside Pakistan included Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal and Mehmoona Joya.

Qureshi said that the Sawai Nala camp was a training centre of the LeT and the perpetrators of the October 20, 2024 Sonmarg strike, the October 24, 2024 Gulmarg assault and the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack were trained there.

Strikes were also conducted on the Syedna Bilal camp, Muzaffarabad which is a JeM staging area providing arms and jungle survival training. Kotli’s Gulpur camp was also an LeT base where terrorists who carried out the Poonch attack in April 2023 and the attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in June 2024 were trained.

At the Bhimber camp, arms and jungle training was done while LeT fidayeens were trained at the Abbas camp.

A visual of a terrorist camp in Pakistan which was struck as part of 'Operation Sindoor', being displayed during a press conference, in New Delhi. Photo: @MEAIndia/Youtube via PTI

Qureshi said that among the terror camps targeted inside Pakistan – at the Sarjal camp in Sialkot which is about 6 kms from the IB, terrorists that killed four J&K police officers in March 2025 were trained.

Targets include camp where Ajmal Kasab and David Headley were trained

Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot had a Hizbul Mujahideen camp from where the attack on the 2016Pathankot air base was planned and directed. The Markaz Taiba camp in Muridke trained the terrorists behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attack including Ajmal Kasab and David Headley.

In addition, the Markaz Subhanallah camp was targeted which was the JeM headquarters and a centre of indoctrination and training.

Singh said that the strikes were undertaken through precision capability and the point of impact was a building or a group of buildings and reiterated that Pakistani military establishments were not targeted.

Also Read: Nine Targets: What the Indian Military Says It Hit on the Pakistani Side and Why

"Niche technology weapons with careful selection of warheads was ensured so that there will be no collateral damage. The point of impact in each of the targets was a specific building or a group of buildings. All the targets were neutralised with clinical efficiency and the results reiterate the professionalism of the Indian armed forces in the planning and execution of their operations,” she said.

“No military establishments were targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in its response. However it must be said that the Indian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to Pakistani misadventures if any that will escalate the situation.”