Jodhpur (Rajasthan) [India], May 11 (ANI): Applauding the Indian armed forces for their valour and courage, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Sunday said a befitting reply has been given to Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.

Speaking to the media, Shekhawat said that the action taken by the army would give a new identity to India's military capability in the world.

'The tension that prevailed on the border... without compromising on our commitment to end terrorism, Indian forces have given a befitting reply to Pakistan... the army has displayed amazing valour and courage in accordance with the expectations of the people of the country and the action taken so far has given a new identity to India's military capability in the whole world...' Shekhawat said.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the understanding between India and Pakistan for cessation of hostilities, and stated that the 1971 war of India with Pakistan, which ended up with the liberation of Bangladesh, further stated that the situation was totally different.

'1971 was a great achievement. Indira Gandhi rewrote the map of the subcontinent, but the circumstances were different. Bangladesh was fighting a moral cause, and liberating Bangladesh was a clear objective. Just keeping on firing shells at Pakistan is not a clear objective,' Tharoor said when asked about some social media buzz comparing Indira Gandhi's action as the PM to PM Narendra Modi's stance on the latest military escalation after Operation Sindoor.

He said that prolonging the conflict would have ended up in a lot of loss of lives on both sides.'Today's Pakistan is a different situation. Their military equipment and the damage they can do are different,' he said.

'Bangladesh was fighting a moral cause to actually bring people to freedom and liberation. That was a completely different story. This is a different story. We would have ended up with much longer, protracted conflicts with a lot of loss of lives on both sides. Is this the biggest priority for India today? No, it is not,' he said. (ANI)