Confirming that the May 10 announced ceasefire had only come after Pakistan begged for it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unequivocally declared that no foreign leader had asked India to stop Operation Sindoor.
Referring to the Lok Sabha while debating the Pahalgam terror attack and the current army operation, PM Modi lashed out at the Opposition, and especially Congress's Rahul Gandhi, who asked for an explanation regarding the Prime Minister's silence regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's previous statement that he is mediating a peace agreement between India and Pakistan.
Unveiling these behind-the-scenes developments in public for the first time, Modi added, "We had asserted from day one that our action was non-escalatory. No world leader asked us to halt Operation Sindoor. On May 9 night, US Vice President JD Vance attempted to speak to me. He attempted for an hour, but I was caught up in a meeting with the forces. When I rang him back, he informed me that Pakistan was thinking of conducting a major attack. My response was that if this is the plan of Pakistan, it will have to pay a heavy price."
He went on, "If Pakistan attacks, we will reply with a large attack. I said 'ham goli ka jawaab gole se denge' (we will reply to a bullet with a cannonball). On May 10, we demolished the military power of Pakistan. This was our response and our determination. Even Pakistan knows now that every response by India is larger than the previous one. It knows that if such a thing happens in the future, India can go to any limit. Let me say again in this temple of democracy: Operation Sindoor is on."
The Prime Minister added that after airstrikes on the terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on May 7, India had made it very clear that its military mission had been achieved. But once Pakistan tried to protect those terror networks, the Indian armed forces reacted strongly.
"On May 9 and 10, our missiles struck every nook and corner of Pakistan, something that they had never even imagined. This put Pakistan on its knees. It was after this that Pakistan rang up the Indian DGMO and begged: 'Bas karo, bahut maara, ab zyada maar jhelne ki taakat nahin hai. Please hamla rok do' (Stop it. You have hit us hard, we can't take it anymore. Please stop the attack). India had already made it clear on May 7 itself that its goals had been achieved. This had been agreed with the forces that our goals were terrorists and their masters," Modi said.
He also revealed that during the days after the first strikes, Pakistan fired about 1,000 drones and missiles at India—all of which were shot down and destroyed in mid-air by Indian defenses.
In an acerbic criticism of opposition ranks, the Prime Minister said, "Terrorists are crying, their mentors and sponsors are crying and, on seeing them cry, certain people are grieving here too." The Prime Minister criticized the Congress party of forcing the narrative of "saffron terror" in the past and trying to spoil the image of the nation.
