India has launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in response to the Apr.22 Pahalgam terror attack. / X/@PiyushGoyal

Indian diaspora community leaders and foreign affairs watchers welcomed India’s precision strike against terrorist bases in Pak-Occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, saying India’s action demonstrated the country’s resolve to fight terror. 

Khanderao Khand of Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies told New India Abroad: “India acted decisively and rightly by launching a targeted missile strike on terror camps in Pakistan, sending a clear message: terrorism will be met with a fitting response, no matter where it originates. The operation was measured and precise, aimed specifically at terror infrastructure, deliberately avoiding civilian areas to uphold humanitarian values, and steering clear of military bases to avoid escalation. This demonstrates India’s resolve—not to provoke war, but to be fully prepared if war is forced upon it.”

Community leader and former advisors to President Joe Biden, Ajay Bhutoria, said in a statement: “ I strongly support India’s Operation Shindoor, a precise strike on terrorist sites in PoJK in response to the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 innocents.”

He said the reaction is laudable: “India’s targeted action against groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba shows its commitment to fighting terrorism while avoiding escalation. I commend India’s resolve and call for global cooperation to combat terrorism and promote peace in South Asia.”

Aparna Pande from Hudson Institute think tank, said India had taken care to ensure its reaction was non-escalatory. “Indian military’s precision strikes against terrorist infrastructure inside Pakistan were predictable. They follow a pattern from 2016 and 2019 that India’s response to terror attacks has always been to target terrorists and not civilians or military inside Pakistan. Also it was clear that India wanted the strikes to be punitive without being escalatory.” 

About the counter-reaction from Pakistan, she said: “What remains to be seen is how Pakistan chooses to respond, whether it simply responds to save face or chooses to escalate.”

Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar issued a statement saying the United States “should stand with our allies against terrorism”. Responding to the attack, he said: “Terrorism cannot be tolerated, and it cannot go unanswered. India has the right to defend its people, and I stand firmly with our ally in its efforts to dismantle these extremist networks.”

Thanedar said of the United States: “This is a time for deeper U.S.-India cooperation to confront shared threats, protect innocent lives, and defend the principles of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom”.

Former Ohio state senator Niraj Antani, posted on X: Congrats to India on successfully striking terrorist camps in Pakistan in response to the Muslim terrorist attack in India two weeks ago. The United States must support India in its effort to kill Muslim terrorists and destroy Muslim terrorist infrastructure.”

“The most urgent thing is de-escalation. There was a terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Innocent people were killed. India took a response that helped take out some of the terrorist networks. They claimed they didn't hit military sites,” Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna told CNN in an interview.

Khanna said that Pak Army Chief Gen Assim Munir is a dictator who didn't have legitimate elections. He put former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in jail, and there's no honest voice right now in Pakistan. The United States should be calling for an election in Pakistan and use its leverage for Islamabad to conduct any retaliatory attack.

Indian American community leader Jasdip Singh Jassee from Sikh for America applauded the Indian Government in carrying this action against terrorists operating from Pakistan. “The Indian American community are in standing behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi in taking this decisive action. It is time that all such terrorist camps are dismantled,” he said.  

“We, the global Indian community, stand united in support of our fellow Indians following the heartbreaking massacre of innocent lives in Kashmir. The world must recognize that terrorism has no place in any civilized society. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and support India’s right to defend its people and uphold peace,” said community leader Ravi.

“Let this be a moment of unity, not just for Indians, but for all who believe in justice, humanity, and the protection of innocent lives. Terror must never be tolerated — and we stand strong, together,” he said in support of the Indian strike.

Indian American community leaders appealed to every Indian living abroad — in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and beyond — to share the truth, counter misinformation, and express solidarity with India during this difficult time.