Overview
- Speaking Thursday at the ANI National Security Summit, the defence minister said India stopped the 2025 campaign by choice and was ready for a long war if it had been required.
- He said India faced a nuclear threat during the crisis yet treated it as a bluff and he stressed that surge capacity to scale operations remains stronger today.
- He highlighted joint action by the Army, Navy and Air Force and pointed to record defence exports of about Rs 38,000–39,000 crore in 2025–26 as signs of growing readiness.
- In May 2025, after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians, India hit terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan‑occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with Indian accounts citing nine launchpads destroyed and over 100 militants killed, and the four‑day exchange ended on May 10 after a DGMO‑level call.
- He called Pakistan the epicentre of international terrorism and his speech followed criticism of his SCO remark that terrorism has no nationality, which he countered by restating India’s no‑distinction stance toward terrorists and their sponsors.