'India has right to defend its people': Indian-origin US Congressman Shri Thanedar on 'Operation Sindoor'

Indian-origin Democrat Congressman Shri Thanedar , who was recently in the news for bringing articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump pushed for a deeper US-India cooperation in the aftermath of India's Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. "Terrorism cannot be tolerated, and it cannot go unanswered. India has the right to defend its people, and I stand firmly with our ally in its efforts to defend its people, and I stand firmly with our ally in its efforts to dismantle these extremist networks," Thanedar wrote in a statement.

"The United States should always stand with our allies against terrorism. This is a time for deeper US-India cooperation to confront shared threats, protect innocent lives, and defend the principles of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom," Thanedar said.

The US State Department also said it is “closely monitoring developments,” according to a spokesperson Tuesday. “We are aware of the reports, however we have no assessment to offer at this time,” the spokesperson said. “This remains an evolving situation, and we are closely monitoring developments.”

President Donald Trump called India’s confirmed military operation against Pakistan “a shame” and that he just learned of the news ahead of his Oval Office event Tuesday evening. “It’s a shame. We just heard about it, just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval, just heard about it. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past, they’ve been fighting for a long time, you know, they’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries,” the president said.

Indian NSA Ajit Doval spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio "shortly after" the missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and briefed him on the actions taken, the Indian Embassy in Washington DC said.

"India's actions have been focused and precise. They were measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani civilian, economic or military targets have been hit. Only known terror camps were targeted," a press release from the Embassy of India, Washington DC said. "India has credible leads, technical inputs, testimony of the survivors and other evidence pointing towards the clear involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in this attack," it said.