At least 100 terrorists were killed when India hit terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of Operation Sindoor, which is still going on, according to sources that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed an all-party meeting on Thursday, May 8, 2025. The politicians, who praised the armed services and enthusiastically supported the government’s military action, were also told by the defence minister that India would retaliate if Pakistan attacked.
On the subject of national security, political representatives from many parties, including the Congress, the AIMIM, the Trinamool Congress, and the DMK, offered the government their complete support. Following the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge declared, “We are with the government in times of crisis.”
“The Defence Minister said this is a sensitive time and in the interest of the country, detailed questions are not to be asked,” he said.
“Operation Sindoor claimed the lives of at least 100 terrorists. It is difficult to give an exact estimate as the operation is still ongoing and we are still collating the details. India will give a befitting reply if Pakistan attacks,” a source at the meeting quoted Mr. Singh as saying in a suo motu statement.
Following the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters that the politicians were mature and refrained from arguing during the gathering, which was led by Mr. Singh and was called to develop a broad political consensus on the matter. “The discussions were conducted in a constructive and serious manner given the gravity of the issue at hand. The Defence Minister briefed all leaders in detail about Operation Sindoor. Each leader expressed their views with responsibility and maturity, recognising the major challenge the country is currently facing,” Mr. Rijiju said.
“Across party lines, political leaders said there is no place for politics in such critical times. All leaders unanimously congratulated our armed forces on the success of Operation Sindoor and assured their full support to the government, with no dissent whatsoever,” he added. According to Mr. Rijiju, the meeting, which took place the day following Operation Sindoor, also included a number of insightful recommendations.
The leaders offered their full support despite sharing their worries about national security and everyone’s safety in India, particularly along the border. It conveys the idea that the government and the military are part of the entire country. “We don’t do politics just for forming governments but also to build the nation,” Mr. Rijiju quoted Mr. Singh as saying. “The raksha mantri told the meeting that it was an ongoing operation and that is why he cannot share the technical details of Operation Sindoor that was launched by Indian armed forces,” Mr. Rijiju said.
For this reason, no representatives of the military forces attended the all-party conference. They had surgeries to attend to. “Political leaders also congratulated the armed forces for the action taken under Operation Sindoor,” he said.
“We gave full support and what Kharge ji said is right — there are certain things that shouldn’t be discussed. Everyone simply gave their support,” Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters. Mr. Kharge added that the Defence Minister did not want to share the details of the operation as it was ongoing. The government informed the gathering that they had struck only terrorists camps and places harbouring terrorists and would take all steps to ensure the safety of people, especially in border areas.
The Congress chief said Mr. Gandhi, who spoke last, also urged the government to convene a special session of Parliament on the issue to send out a clear message to the world. “All parties of the INDIA bloc and other parties as well in one voice said ‘you move ahead and we are with you in the decisions you take and are standing with the Army’,” the Congress chief said. He also expressed disappointment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend the all-party meeting.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he complimented the armed forces and the government for conducting Operation Sindoor. “I also said that we should run an international campaign against TRF and the U.N. Security Council should designate it as terror organisation. We also need to ask the United States to designate TRF as foreign terrorist organisation in the country,” he said.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy, has emerged mastermind of the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 people were killed and also claimed responsibility for it. “BJD wholeheartedly commends the extraordinary courage, clinical precision and gallant professionalism of our armed forces in carrying out Operation Sindoor. We salute every officer, soldier, unit involved in this mission,” said party leader Sasmit Patra.
“We are united against the fight on terrorism from Pakistan. This is the need of the hour. We should fight shoulder to shoulder. There should be no division between us,” said Trinamool Congress’ Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
The meeting was attended by BJP President J.P. Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. T.R. Baalu (DMK), Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena-UBT), Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), and John Brittas (CPI-M) were among the opposition leaders in attendance.
In addition, Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan attended the meeting along with JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha. To inform leaders about the Pahalgam attack, the administration had earlier convened an all-party meeting on April 24.
