Washington, D.C. [US], May 22 (ANI): Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton on Wednesday firmly endorsed India’s military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, describing Operation Sindoor as a legitimate act of self-defense. In an interview with ANI, Bolton emphasized that India had every right to strike targets inside Pakistan where the attack was allegedly planned and launched.
“India was certainly entitled to act in self-defense against locations inside Pakistan where the terrorist attack was planned and carried out from,” Bolton said. He warned that if Pakistan continues to allow or support such attacks from its soil, it could face “much worse consequences.”
The April 22 attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam region claimed the lives of 26 civilians and was linked to terror groups based in Pakistan. In response, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), resulting in the deaths of over 100 militants affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Bolton pointed to Pakistan’s failure to curb terrorism within its territory as a long-standing concern and suggested that some elements within the Pakistani state may be complicit. “It is a significant issue when a country cannot control that kind of terrorist activity going on in its territory or, indeed, maybe contributing to it,” he noted.
In a broader strategic context, Bolton also highlighted the increasing role of China in Pakistan’s defense posture, calling it a growing threat to India’s security. “The fact that Chinese military planes supplied to Pakistan were prominent in Pakistan’s response signifies the growing Chinese influence inside Pakistan, which increases the threat to India, certainly on its western flank,” he said.
Bolton further compared the current escalation to past India-Pakistan conflicts, particularly the 2019 Pulwama attack. “This is a long-standing issue, but the escalation, the military response, and the back and forth between India and Pakistan before the ceasefire was agreed to were a cut above what happened in 2019,” he observed.
Pakistan’s retaliatory response included drone incursions, cross-border shelling, and attempted strikes along the International Border and the Line of Control. India responded with a coordinated counteroffensive, damaging radar infrastructure, airfields, and communication centers across 11 Pakistani airbases.
The intense escalation concluded with a mutual understanding of cessation of hostilities on May 10, though India maintains that the ceasefire was a bilateral development, rejecting claims of third-party mediation.
Bolton’s comments underscore Washington’s increasing strategic alignment with India amid concerns over terrorism and regional stability, while also shedding light on how Pakistan’s growing dependence on Chinese military support may alter the security dynamics of South Asia. (ANI)
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