MEA-security forces joint briefing key points: 'Pak opposed TRF mention in UNSC statement despite group claiming Pahalgam attack'

NEW DELHI: In a special joint briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and security forces, India once again reiterated that the Pahalgam terror attack was the original escalation point of the recent tension between India and Pakistan. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri also mentioned that Pakistan had opposed the mention of the terror organisation The Resistance Force (TRF) in the United Nations Security Council statement regarding the Pahalgam terror attack. This, Misri said, was even after the group at that time had claimed responsibility for the attack two times.

Here are the key highlights from the MEA-security forces joint press briefing:

Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said, "During the press conference on May 7, it was made clear that Pakistani military sites were not targeted. But on intervening night of May 7 and 8, Pakistan targeted several military sites in North and Western India such as Awantipora, Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, etc."

"First of all, there is mention on all sides of escalation. I think the first point that you have to keep in mind is that the attack in Pahalgam on April 22 was the original escalation, and the Indian Armed Forces only replied to that escalation on May 7," Vikram Misri said.

"I want to invite your attention to the involvement of the group called The Resistance Front in this attack. I pointed this out yesterday that this a group that is a known front for a well-known Pakistan-based organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. The group has been reported earlier," he said.

"Our approach is not to escalate situation, we only responded to April 22 Pahalgam terror attack," Misri said.

Pakistan's reputation as centre of global terrorism is rooted in various terrorist attacks across the globe. Pakistan pursued cross-border terrorism against India for decades: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri,: said Vikram Misri.

Misri said, "Pakistan's reputation as the epicentre of global terrorism is rooted in a number of instances... I don't need to remind where Osama Bin Laden was found and who called him a martyr...Pakistan is also home to a large number of UN proscribed terrorists and also to terrorists proscribed by many countries...You must have seen in the last few days, their Defence minister and former foreign minister accepted their country's involvement with such terror groups."

#WATCH | Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri says, "Pakistan's reputation as the epicentre of global terrorism is rooted in a number of instances... I don't need to remind where Osama Bin Laden was found and who called him a martyr...Pakistan is also home to a large number of… pic.twitter.com/fqXnIhBuNs

— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2025

"Yesterday, Pakistan launched a targeted attack on the Sikh community of J&K- hitting a gurdwara in Poonch and hitting the Sikh community members, who came under attack. Three individuals were killed in the attacks... A total of 16 civilians have been killed in Poonch and several others have been injured," he said.