NEW DELHI, May 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India remains “steadfast as ever” in its determination to defeat terrorism and its “enabling ecosystem”, marking one year since a deadly clash with arch-enemy Pakistan.
Relations between nuclear-armed neighbours plummeted last year after an April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 men, mostly Hindu tourists, leading to their worst conflict in decades.
India blamed Pakistan for backing the attack — a charge Islamabad denied — triggering tit-for-tat diplomatic measures and a sharp military escalation.
The conflict escalated after India launched strikes on May 7, 2025 — on what it described as “terrorist camps” in Pakistan.
That prompted an immediate response from Islamabad, leading to airstrikes, drone swarms and heavy mortar fire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
“We remain as steadfast as ever in our resolve to defeat terrorism and destroy its enabling ecosystem,” Modi said on Thursday, a year on since the launch of what India dubbed “Operation Sindoor”.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist government used Sindoor, the Hindi word for the red powder which married Hindu women wear on their foreheads, as a sign that it was to avenge those widowed in the April 22 attack.
“They gave a fitting response to those who dared to attack innocent Indians at Pahalgam. The entire nation salutes our forces for their valour,” he said in a statement.
More than 70 people were killed on both sides.
Pakistan claims to have shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three advanced French Rafale aircraft, all of which were in Indian airspace at the time. India has not disclosed any losses.
The neighbours agreed to end the four-day conflict on May 10, a ceasefire first announced by US President Donald Trump.
Officials from Islamabad and New Delhi confirmed the ceasefire on May 10, minutes after Trump posted the announcement on his Truth Social network. India has repeatedly insisted that the truce was worked out directly with Islamabad.
