Major General Karthik C. Seshadri, a senior Indian Army officer, said that on the night of May 7-8, Pakistan tried to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar using drones and missiles. This was in response to India’s earlier attacks on nine terrorist locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
He added that Pakistan didn’t have any real military targets to hit, so they were expected to go after civilian areas and religious places in India instead.
“Knowing that the Pak Army does not have any legitimate targets, we anticipated that they would target Indian military installations, civilian targets including religious places,” he told ANI. “Of these, Golden Temple appeared to be the most prominent,” he added.
To protect the Golden Temple, “We mobilised additional modern air defence assets to give a holistic air defence umbrella cover to Golden Temple,” Major General Seshadri said.
India Stops Pakistan’s Night-Time Attack
The attack happened early in the morning on May 8. Pakistan launched a big air strike using drones and long-range missiles while it was still dark.
“On 8th May early morning, in the hours of darkness, Pakistan carried out a massive air assault with unmanned aerial weapons, primarily drones and long-range missiles,” he said. He also added that the Indian Army was fully ready and successfully stopped and destroyed all the incoming threats.
“We were fully prepared since we had anticipated this, and our braveheart and alert army air defence gunners thwarted Pakistan Army’s nefarious designs and shot down all drones and missiles targeted at the Golden Temple. Thus, not allowing even a scratch to come on our holy Golden Temple,” the officer added.
#WATCH | Amritsar, Punjab: Major General Kartik C Seshadri, GOC, 15 Infantry Division says "…Knowing that Pak Army does not have any legitimate targets, we anticipated that they will target Indian military installations, civilian targets including religious places. Of these,… https://t.co/y9gECbSao1 pic.twitter.com/5X8Gwi5RRW
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2025
Army Shows How It Stopped Drone Attacks
The Indian Army also showed a demonstration to explain how its air defence systems, like the AKASH missile system and L-70 Air Defence Guns were able to stop and destroy the Pakistani drones and missiles. These systems helped protect the Golden Temple and important cities in Punjab.
Earlier, the defence ministry said that several Indian cities and army bases were targeted during the night attack. These include Amritsar, Jammu, Srinagar, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, and Bhuj. People in Kashmir also heard explosions.
“These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter-UAS Grid and Air Defence systems,” the statement said.
These attacks happened after India carried out operation Sindoor, a planned military operation targeting nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. This action was taken in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which killed 26 civilians.
