India has right to defend itself: UK MP calls out Pak in fiery Parliament speech

Indian-origin UK MP Priti Patel staunchly defended India’s military strikes on terror camps in Pakistan while emphasising that terrorists based in Pakistan threaten both India and Western interests. In a fiery speech in Parliament, Patel called for more active involvement of the UK in working with India to tackle terrorist threats.

“We want to avoid a state-on-state military escalation. However, India has the right to take reasonable and proportionate steps to defend itself and to dismantle the vile terrorist infrastructure that has caused deaths and continues to threaten them,” Patel said.

In its most expansive cross-border strikes, Indian armed forces struck nine terrorist camps linked to groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) deep inside Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on Wednesday. The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 25 tourists and a local dead.

Pakistan has termed it an “act of war” and promised to retaliate at a “time, place, and manner of its choosing”.

Urging de-escalation by both countries, Patel attacked Pakistan for “harbouring terrorists” while pointing to the history of terrorism that India has faced.

“This was an act of terrorism… Pahalgam has joined Mumbai, New Delhi and other places in India that will be forever scarred by an act of terror,” Patel, who previously served as the UK’s Home Secretary, said.

Citing the longstanding security cooperation agreements with India, the UK MP urged the Keir Starmer-led government to work with allies to dismantle terror networks. She also asked whether the UK had provided any security aid to India after the Pahalgam attack.

“The UK government should be at the forefront of working with our friends and allies to tackle the terrorist threats that we face collectively,” she said.