‘Show Me One Photo Of Indian Damage’: NSA Doval Slams Foreign Media Over Operation Sindoor Coverage

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday criticised foreign media outlets for their reporting on Operation Sindoor, challenging them to show evidence of any damage within India while highlighting that the only visuals published globally were of damaged Pakistani air bases hit during India’s precision strikes.

Speaking at the 62nd convocation of IIT Madras, Doval said India’s armed forces carried out targeted strikes on May 7 deep inside Pakistan, precisely hitting nine terror camps to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed. Over 100 terrorists were eliminated in the operation, officials have said.

“Foreign press said that Pakistan did this and that… You tell me one photograph, one image, which shows any damage to any Indian (structure), even a glass pane having been broken,” Doval said. “The images only showed 13 air bases in Pakistan before and after May 10… We are capable of doing that (damage to Pakistani air bases),” he added.

Operation Sindoor targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, with India maintaining that the strikes were limited and precise, focusing only on Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed facilities. Western media reports, including The New York Times, later acknowledged the strikes had damaged Pakistan’s military facilities, including hangars at Bholari air base near Karachi and the sensitive Nur Khan air base near Islamabad.

Doval also emphasised India’s indigenous capabilities, stating that locally developed weapons were used in Operation Sindoor. “We are really proud of how much indigenous content was there… We missed none. We hit nowhere else except the target,” he said.

International media, including The Guardian and The Washington Post, had echoed Pakistan’s claims of civilian casualties in the strikes. However, Doval and Indian authorities clarified that there was no damage to civilian infrastructure, and the operations were carried out with “surgical precision.”

The April 22 massacre in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which India described as a terrorist attack, saw 26 civilians killed in cold blood at Baisaran meadows. Doval pointed out that a large section of Western media referred to the terrorists as “gunmen” or “militants,” refusing to call the massacre an act of terror.

Operation Sindoor is being seen as a demonstration of India’s evolving doctrine of precision strikes and its readiness to respond decisively to terror attacks on Indian soil. Officials highlighted that India’s strikes were carefully executed to avoid civilian casualties, contrasting them with the damage inflicted on key Pakistani military assets.

Doval’s remarks have added to the growing narrative of India’s assertive counter-terror strategy while spotlighting the gap between foreign reportage and ground realities, as India continues to push for recognition of its right to self-defence against cross-border terrorism.