Rajnath Singh fires back: 'After 26/11 attacks, Pranab Mukherjee rejected military strike at Muridke'

India had evidence of cross-border involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, but then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected calls for military retaliation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha on Monday. Quoting Mukherjee's memoir The Coalition Years, Singh said the Congress-led UPA government chose not to respond with force despite mounting pressure within the Cabinet.

"Pranab Mukherjee has written in his book The Coalition Years that when the Mumbai attacks happened, India had evidence that the terrorists came from Karachi port. No one in the world was believing the excuse of Pakistan’s 'non-state actors'. He has written, and I quote – ‘Amid heated debates within the Cabinet, there was a demand for military intervention which I rejected’," Singh said during a special debate in the Lower House.

He cited an unnamed senior IFS officer's book, recounting a meeting after the attacks. "The book said Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon suggested that India could launch a cruise missile attack on the Lashkar-e-Toiba headquarters in Muridke. Hearing this, Mukherjee took off his glasses, cleaned them, and thanked all the officers before concluding the meeting," Singh said.

Reflecting on the aftermath, Singh added, "But I believe that if the government back then had taken decisive and tough steps like the 2016 (surgical strike) and 2019 (air strike), Pakistan’s strategic calculus could have been altered. A powerful and decisive action could have proven to be a significant disincentive for Pakistan and its army-sponsored terrorist organisations."

He criticised the UPA for what he described as a weak global response. "Just take a look at the documents of the BRICS summit held after that incident; there is no mention of the Mumbai terrorist attacks anywhere," Singh told the House.

Singh pointed to India's firm stance after the Pahalgam attack. At a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in China, Singh said, "The declaration being prepared there was diluting India's stand on terrorism. We clearly stated that unless India's stand on the issue of terrorism is included, we will not sign any joint statement. And because of this, no Joint Statement was issued there."

He added that India's position was acknowledged at the BRICS summit in Brazil. "In other words, India's stance was finally accepted. This was the first time in the history of the BRICS summit that a terrorist incident in Jammu and Kashmir was openly condemned," Singh said.

Singh also used the opportunity to defend Operation Sindoor, the military response to the Pahalgam attacks. He said the operation was "paused" after achieving its objectives and rejected any claim of foreign pressure to halt it. "Before executing Operation Sindoor, our forces studied every aspect and chose the option that would cause maximum damage to terrorists while ensuring no harm to innocent civilians," he said.

"If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again," he said, adding that the 22-minute strike destroyed seven terror camps and caused confirmed damage in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "It was the director general of Pakistan's director general of military operation who requested his Indian counterpart to end the strikes,” Singh told Parliament.

The defence minister also responded to international speculation. "To say or believe that Operation Sindoor was stopped under any pressure is baseless and completely incorrect," Singh said, indirectly addressing US President Donald Trump's previous remarks about a ceasefire. "Pakistan could not hit our targets and there was no damage to any of our important assets."