Chennai: Debunking the claims in international media, especially The New York Times, over the reportage on Operation Sindoor, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval today dared them to provide at least one single image to prove that India suffered damages in the conflict with Pakistan.
“Foreign press has written that Pakistan had done this and that. You show me one image or photograph on damage on the Indian side, even a glass pane having been broken,” he said, challenging the western media narrative, while addressing the 62nd convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras here.
“Would they carry the images of the 13 airbases of Pakistan before and after May 10, whether it
was Sargoda, Rahim Yar Khan or Chaklala at Rawalpindi.
These days these imageries are from satellites all over the world. Has any image show damage on the Indian side? We hit their 13 airbases, including the one in Bholari where they have their AWACS control systems.” Doval said adding “We have hit their 13 important airbases and no one except that. It was precise and pointed.”
Describing the execution of Operation Sindoor as short and swift, which he claimed as unprecedented in the last 40 years, the NSA explained that “The entire operation started at five minutes past one and was over at 28 minutes past one – 23 minutes. We are capable of doing
that.” This drew huge applause from the audience.
“We identified nine terrorist targets across Pakistan, deep inside that country and not in the border areas. It was a criss-cross pattern but with surgical precision, we hit them without missing any one
of them. We knew exactly where everyone was and no unintended site was attacked. It was a well-coordinated successful operation. And, satellite images tell the real story of what had happened,”
he said countering the scepticism in the international media about the efficacy of Operation Sindoor.
According to him Operation Sindoor marked a milestone in the deployment of indigenously developed military hardware and weapons.
And in a push for self-reliance in the domain of technology, he said the country would completely indegenise its communication systems as it is essential to safeguard national security and for data protection.
Describing Artificial Intelligence as a game changer, he underscored the need to adapt to emerging technologies and give up dependence on foreign sources. “The Chinese, investing USD 300 billion, have taken 12 years to develop 5G. “Though we do not have the time or money, we have developed the indigenous alternative in just two and a half years and we owe this to our private sector”, he added.
Turning towards the country’s deeper identity struggles, he said “We have suffered a lot. Our ancestors have suffered. you belong to a civilisation, a country, which has been bled, dishonoured
for a thousand years. Our pitras (forefathers) have suffered humiliation and hardships to keep alive the civilisation and the idea of the nation.”
UNI
