Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], May 24 (ANI): Former Foreign Secretary, Lalit Mansingh, on Saturday said that India's Operation Sindoor was not intended to start a war or fight the Pakistan army, but only to hit at the centres of terrorism within Pakistan.

'Many countries have an interest in dealing with terrorism. 9/11 happened in the United States. It was an act of international terrorism, and America took action and finally got Osama bin Laden from Pakistan,' Mansingh told ANI.

He pointed out that in the Operation Sindoor, the Indian Armed Forces hit the headquarters of the terrorist organisations in Pakistan with pinpoint accuracy.

'Operation Sindoor intended to hit at the centres of terrorism within Pakistan, not to start a war or fight the Pakistan army, but to send a message to the terrorists...The headquarters of the terrorist organisations like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and terrorist sites across the line of control were hit with pinpoint accuracy,' he said.

India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POJK).

The Indian Armed Forces responded effectively to subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. The two countries reached an understanding to stop military action following a call made by Pakistan's DGMO to his Indian counterpart.

Earlier today, drawing a comparison between the two countries' foundational choices at the time of independence in 1947, Congress leader Salman Khurshid emphasised that India opted for a path of unity and inclusivity, unlike Pakistan, which was formed on religious lines.

During the interaction of the Indian Community in Japan with the All-Party Delegation, Khurshid said that India's resolution is to end terrorism.

'Our resolution is against terrorism and to end terrorism...The Pakistani Army Chief at that time has now promoted himself as the Field Marshal... In 1947, we had two paths. In the first path, we decided that we would all live together, and we would make a country where everyone would stay together and call it Bharatvarsh,' he said.

'Someone else made a country only in the name of religion. In a few years, it was proven that countries are not made in the name of religion. India had a huge contribution to the formation of Bangladesh...There are two different ideologies, one collective and inclusive and the other in which they cannot live with each other,' Khurshid said. (ANI)