Srinagar, May 7 -- Echoing his support to India's Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday asserted that India had to respond to what happened in Pahalgam, adding that it is now upto the neighbouring country to how much they want to escalate this.

Speaking to ANI, CM Abdullah emphasised that he has not forgotten the Pahalgam attack on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 people.

"At that time, the Central government had said they would respond in their own way. The way India chose to respond was by targeting not just any civilian or military area in Pakistan, but the areas where people had been living for the last 30-35 years, spreading destruction and chaos in Jammu and Kashmir....