Jaishankar Reveals India's Airfield Strikes Forced May 10 Pakistan Ceasefire

 NEW DELHI – India's External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, has offered a revealing explanation for the India-Pakistan ceasefire on May 10, asserting that it was a direct consequence of Indian military action. In a candid interview with the American news website POLITICO, Jaishankar stated, "Fighting stopped on the 10th for one reason and one reason only, which was that on the 10th morning we hit these eight Pakistani, the main eight Pakistani airfields and disabled them."

The Minister underscored India's escalating frustration with Pakistan's alleged role in harboring terrorist groups, reaffirming New Delhi's resolve to undertake direct military action, if deemed necessary, to neutralize such threats. "We don’t care where they are… If they are deep in Pakistan, we will go deep into Pakistan," Jaishankar warned, conveying an unambiguous message regarding India’s commitment to combating terrorism at its roots. He further characterized Pakistan as "a country very steeped in its use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy." When queried about the persistent tensions that previously brought the two nations to the brink of conflict, Jaishankar affirmed, "If you call the commitment to terrorism a source of tension, absolutely, it is."

This disclosure comes in the context of "Operation Sindoor," India’s retaliatory strikes on May 7. This operation targeted nine terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, reportedly eliminating hundreds of terrorists, in response to the brutal April 22 Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 civilian lives. Following these strikes, Pakistan’s subsequent attempts to deploy drones and missiles against India were reportedly thwarted by India’s robust air defense systems, leading to the ceasefire agreement on May 10.

Discussing the ceasefire and addressing previous reports of Indian jet damage, Jaishankar dismissed concerns, stating, "As far I’m concerned, how effective the Rafale was or frankly, how effective other systems were — to me the proof of the pudding are the destroyed and disabled airfields on the Pakistani side." He emphasized the verifiability of India's actions, noting that images of the hit runways and hangars on the Pakistani side are publicly accessible on Google.

Further corroborating the extent of the damage, a confidential Pakistani dossier on its internal military Operation ‘Bunyan un Marsoos’ against India reportedly revealed that at least eight additional Pakistani locations sustained damage from Indian strikes, a number exceeding its initial acknowledgements. A map within this dossier indicates Indian strikes on the intervening night of May 9 and 10 affected structures in Peshawar, Jhang, Hyderabad (Sindh), Gujrat (Punjab), Gujranwala, Bhawalnagar, Attock, and Chor – locations not previously detailed in Indian Armed Forces’ press briefings.

According to top government sources, India’s offensive on May 10 targeted 11 military installations, including major ammunition depots and airbases such as Sargodha and Bholari, where F-16 and JF-17 fighter jets were stationed. These sources indicated that the synchronized attack, executed within three hours, destroyed approximately 20% of Pakistan’s air force assets, including six Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets, two high-value aircraft, over 10 Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), one C-130 transport aircraft, and multiple cruise missiles. Satellite imagery, comparing pre- and post-strike conditions at Shahbaz airbase in Jacobabad and the Bholari airbase, reportedly substantiates the scale of the destruction.