By Deepti Verma

Copyright republicworld

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday came down heavily on Pakistan-backed terrorism and praised the Indian armed forces for carrying out “Operation Sindoor”, saying the mission dealt a decisive blow to terror infrastructure across the border.Addressing a public rally in Dhar on his 75th birthday, the Prime Minister said, “Terrorists who infiltrated from Pakistan killed the husbands of our sisters and daughters. As a befitting response, we launched Operation Sindoor and dismantled their terror camps… In the wink of an eye, our brave armed forces brought Pakistan to its knees.”Mentioning the viral video of top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander on Tuesday, which claimed that India had “ripped apart” its chief Masood Azhar’s family during the strike, PM Modi said, “Just yesterday, the world saw how a Pakistani terrorist was in tears while narrating his ordeal… Ye naya Bharat hai, ye kisi ki parmanu dhamkiyon se darta nahi hai… Ye naya Bharat hai, ghar mein ghus kar maarta hai (This is a new India… It fears nobody’s nuclear threats… It enters the enemy’s house and kills).Weeks after 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, Indian armed forces, under “Operation Sindoor”, had conducted coordinated overnight strikes on nine terror sites, including Bahawalpur, in Pakistan and PoK.The strikes targeted the deep infrastructure of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).Apart from Bahawalpur, eight other terror sites, including locations in Kotli and Muridke — all known hubs of extremist activity — were reduced to rubble as India conducted its most daring airstrike deep inside Pakistan.In the strike on Bahawalpur, 10 of Azhar’s relatives were among those killed. It included his sister, her husband, his nephew, his niece and children from his extended family. Four of Azhar’s aides were also killed in the pre-dawn attack.