Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on May 10 that claims of attack on critical infrastructure such as power and cyber systems are false and urged people not to be misled by Pakistan’s "tissue of lies".
Misri was speaking at media briefing in the morning after yet another fiery night of missiles, drone attacks and heavy shelling, as India and Pakistan conflict gets fierce.
"Claims have been made about large sections of Indian critical infrastructure - power systems and cyber systems - being attacked and destroyed. They are completely false. I urge everyone not to be misled by this tissue of lies being pedalled by the Pakistani state for obvious purposes," Misri said at a joint briefing by the ministries of defence and external affairs.
"Pakistan continues with its execrable and wanton campaign of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, especially in the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. There is also, on its part, a consistent attempt to sow discord between communities in India," he said.
Pakistan armed forces continue to target Indian military sites and civilian areas across the northern and western borders.
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Pakistani military is moving troops to forward areas, indicating intent to further escalate the situation Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said at the briefing.
India neutralised most of the attacks but Pakistan managed to cause damage to personnel and equipment at air force bases in Udhampur, Bhuj, Pathankot, Bathinda, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who addressed the media with Misri and Singh, said.
Indian forces are in a high state of operational readiness and all hostile actions effectively countered, Singh said.
All locations in the country are safe and the armed forces are taking appropriate steps to neutralise all threats.
On May 8, the government warned Pakistan that it would be “entirely” responsible for the consequences arising from any attack on Indian infrastructure.
“One point that I wanted to also address was the allegations of the targeting of a dam, the Neelam-Jhelum project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). I want to say that this is an absolute and complete fabrication and a blatant lie…I should note that if this kind of claim is a pretext for targeting Indian infrastructure of a similar nature, Pakistan will be entirely responsible for the consequences that will undoubtedly follow,” the foreign secretary said at the May 8 briefing.
Hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, which share borders with Pakistan, have activated crisis management plans, government officials said.
"Even in the cities where blackouts are being carried out, we are ensuring grid flexibility. All necessary grid security measures are in place," a senior power ministry official said.
To guard the grid, state-owned Grid-India has activated its security operation centre (SOC) across all regional and national load despatch centres. The SOC has been set up for round-the-clock monitoring of critical assets.
“Each plant has its own crisis management plan and cannot be disclosed in public domain. In general, it includes a multi-pronged approach, ranging from physical security to preventing cyber incidents,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
A crisis management plan (CMP) is different from a disaster management plan (DMP) for power plants.
DMPs are public documents since it involves safety measures against natural calamities. CMPs are specific to each plant and are not shared, as they are meant for man-made crises.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 9 chaired a high-level meeting of managing directors and CEOs of public and private sector banks and insurance companies and emphasised the need to strengthen cybersecurity and institutional preparedness.
Sitharaman directed banks to conduct regular audits of cybersecurity systems and data centres to ensure that digital and core banking infrastructure is “fully firewalled and monitored round the clock” to thwart hostile cyber activity.
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