Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley on Thursday said that India had “every right” to retaliate and defend itself after the Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that Pakistan does not get to play the "victim".
India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed.
Under the operation, India struck nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with missiles and drones.
"Terrorists launched an attack that killed dozens of Indian citizens. India had every right to retaliate and defend itself. Pakistan does not get to play the victim. No country gets a pass for supporting terrorist activity," Haley said in a post on X.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi that the Indian military carried out a “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible” strike to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan to “deter and to pre-empt” any further terrorist strikes.
Addressing a packed press conference, Misri said it was deemed essential that the perpetrators and planners of the April 22 attack be brought to justice, as there was “no demonstrable” step from Islamabad to take action against the terror infrastructure on its territory or territory under its control.
Haley is the former governor of South Carolina and served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations during Donald Trump's first presidential term.
She was the first Indian-American appointed to a cabinet-level post in the US administration.
In 2023, she officially announced her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, but withdrew from the race in March last year.
In her campaign, Haley had said that if she were voted to power, the US will not pay the "bad guys" like Pakistan hundreds of millions of dollars.
"A weak America pays the bad guys: hundreds of millions to Pakistan, Iraq, and Zimbabwe last year alone. A strong America won't be the world's ATM,” she had said.
In an op-ed in the New York Post, she had said that as the US ambassador to the UN, she strongly supported President Trump's decision to cut nearly USD 2 billion of military aid to Pakistan because that country supported terrorists who kill American troops.