‘If it satisfies their ego...’: What India’s top diplomat in UK said on Pakistan’s claim of downing IAF jets

NEW DELHI: India’s top diplomat in the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, responded on Thursday to Pakistan’s unverified claims that it shot down Indian jets.“If it satisfies Pakistan's ego to say that they've done something, they could have used that as an off-ramp to move on. But clearly they chose not to and they've continued to escalate the matter,” Doraiswami said.Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami gave a series of interviews to British news outlets on Thursday, including Sky News, to outline India’s stance following last month’s deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26.The Press Information Bureau (PIB) had debunked the false claim that Pakistan shot down an Indian Rafale jet, clarifying that the images being shared online were old and not related to 'Operation Sindoor'.Doraiswami insisted that India’s military response, in which it targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, was "precise, targeted, reasonable and moderate."In the interview, Doraiswami said the international community can help by telling Pakistan to take the "off-ramp", a chance to step back and stop the crisis from getting worse, in response to its claim of downing Indian jets.“If the international community really wants to be able to look at this and worry about it, the simple solution is to tell Pakistan it has an opportunity for an off-ramp,” he said.“These are things that the world should have compelled Pakistan to do 30 years ago," the Doraiswami added.The Indian envoy also showed Sky News a photo of Abdur Rauf, a US-designated terrorist, seen leading prayers for the terrorists killed in India’s recent military action named Operation Sindoor. The same image was earlier presented by India’s foreign secretary Vikram Mistry in New Delhi.“Everybody knows that for the last 30 years, Pakistan has used this (terrorism) as a means of sub-critical warfare against India,” he added.Speaking on the events that triggered the current tensions, Doraiswami said that the original escalation came from Pakistan-backed terrorists who killed civilians in Pahalgam on April 22.“Our response thereafter was precise, targeted, reasonable and moderate. It was focused principally and solely on terrorist infrastructure,” he said.Doraiswami further added that the Indian military's objective was to avoid escalation.“We did not strike the Pakistani military establishment. We did not strike national infrastructure… The object of this exercise was clearly to avoid military escalation.”Doraiswami stressed that India has made its position clear repeatedly: it is Pakistan’s choice whether to end the matter or continue.“The logical solution would be, as we've said repeatedly, for Pakistan to take the opportunity of an off ramp… If Pakistan stops attacking our military facilities, the matter ends there, but it is for them to decide,” he said.India has maintained that its actions were in self-defence and aimed only at terrorist targets.