"China finds India’s military operation early this morning regrettable," read a statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China said it is concerned about the ongoing situation that is emerging amid an escalation of tension between India and Pakistan.

"We are concerned about the ongoing situation. India and Pakistan are and will always be each other’s neighbors. They’re both China’s neighbors as well. China opposes all forms of terrorism," the statement said.

"We urge both sides to act in the larger interest of peace and stability, remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that may further complicate the situation," the statement said.

Operation Sindoor

The Indian Armed Forces early Wednesday launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist camps at various locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), to avenge the Pahalgam terrorist attack, in which 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, were killed on April 22.

“A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the Ministry of Defence said in a media release after 2 am.

According to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the operation was aimed at neutralizing terror camps actively involved in planning and executing attacks against India. A total of nine sites have been hit during the strike.

Officials said the strikes were focused, measured, and non-escalatory, deliberately avoiding any Pakistani military installations. “India has shown significant restraint both in the selection of targets and the method of execution,” the statement added.

Pahalgam Attack

Twenty-six people, including 23 Hindu male tourists, were killed by terrorists in Baisaran meadows, a popular destination in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, on April 22.

The terrorists- belonging to The Resistance Front (TRF), which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)- asked the victims to chant Islamic verses (kalma) and made them pull down their pants to be sure of their their non-Muslim religious identities (read circumcision) before gunning them down before their families, including wives, children and daughters.

The massacre triggered a nationwide outrage and escalated India-Pakistan tensions as New Delhi vowed to avenge the killings.