“We Were Prepared To Strike After Prayers, But India Fired Brahmos”: Pak PM

New Delhi:

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, again, made a public confession that Indian ballistic missiles hit numerous targets within Pakistan during the intervening night of May 9 and 10 – with his army being taken by surprise. As per the Pakistani PM, they were going to strike India at 4:30 am – immediately after their Fajr prayers – but before that, India fired BrahMos missiles hitting numerous provinces in Pakistan, including the airport at Rawalpindi.

“On the night of May 9-10, we made the decision to counter Indian aggression in a controlled manner. Our forces were ready to respond at 4.30 in the morning after Fajr prayers to give a lesson. But India again fired a missile attack with BrahMos even before that hour and hit several provinces of Pakistan, including Rawalpindi airport,” Mr Sharif said in a speech in Azerbaijan.

Indian strikes were conducted under Operation Sindoor – a specific military operation against terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as a reaction to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

It is not the first instance when Mr Sharif has acknowledged that Operation Sindoor inflicted tremendous damage in Pakistan.

Earlier in the month, he ascertained that Indian ballistic missiles had targeted the Nur Khan Airbase and other targets within Pakistan at the early hours of May 10. Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, Mr Sharif narrated receiving a 2:30 AM call from the Chief of the Army Staff, General Syed Asim Munir, who notified him of the missile attack by India.

“In the intervening night of May 9-10 at about 2:30 AM, General Asif Munir phoned me on a secure phone and informed me that India has fired its ballistic missiles. There is one in the Nur Khan airbase and some in other locations,” he stated.

Indian strikes killed approximately 100 terrorists who were associated with terror organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen, as per government sources. Indian Armed Forces conducted the missile attacks on nine terrorist camps – four in Pakistan (Bhawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal, and Mehmoona Joya), and five in PoK (Sawai Nala, Syedna Bilal, Gulpur, Barnala, and Abbas).

Pakistan retaliated by striking civilian zones in India with drones. India responded by striking targeted military installations deep within Pakistani boundaries, including radar stations, command and control facilities, and ammunition bunkers in Rafiqui, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, and Sialkot, among others.

On 10 May, India and Pakistan signed an agreement to end all firing and military operations on land, air, and sea with effect from the moment it was signed. Pakistan, however, breached the agreement hours after it took effect. Days later, India’s military confirmed that India and Pakistan will maintain the ceasefire with “no expiration date”.

Pak “ready to talk” with India, New Delhi’s response
Last week, Mr Sharif stated the nation was prepared to negotiate with India “to find solutions” to “long-standing issues“, such as Kashmir, sharing water, and trade. India, however, has made it clear that it can only engage in talks with Pakistan if it halts cross-border terrorism.

“We wish to again say that terrorism and negotiations cannot go together,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated in his weekly media briefing.

He further stated, “As regards our interaction with Pakistan, our position has been clear. Any interaction has to be bilateral. They must surrender to India, identified terrorists, whose dossier and roll call we presented to them some years ago. J&K talks shall take place only on the issue of vacating of PoK and when Pakistan surrenders the territory to us. As regards Indus Water Treaty, it will stay in abeyance until such time as Pakistan credibly and irrevocably renounces support to cross-border terrorism.”