India scuppered 2 lakh cyberattacks during Operation Sindoor: Khattar

IN TALKS WITH CENTRE ON RESUMPTION OF PROJECTS HALTED DUE TO INDUS WATER TREATY: OMAR

13/06/2025

SRINAGAR, Jun 12: India foiled around two lakh cyberattacks targeting its power infrastructure in over the week during the Operation Sindoor, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said here on Thursday.
"Since the advancement in technology, new dangers have emerged -- cyberattacks or cybercrimes. There has been an increase in these, but the government has worked on it, and our cybersecurity has almost stopped all such dangers," Khattar told reporters here.
He was addressing a press conference on the completion of 11 years of the BJP-led Central government.
"There have been many cyberattacks on the country. As far as the Power department is concerned, around two lakh cyberattacks were attempted, but our cyber department foiled each one of them, and there were no losses," the minister said.
Khattar said these attempts were made in "eight to ten days" around the time Operation Sindoor went underway.
Asked whether the attacks were made from within the country or outside it, the minister said these attacks can take place from any corner of the world.
"It is known worldwide that those against us will do things like these, but … We have stopped such attacks. Our system is capable and in the future also, we will foil all such attacks," he said.
"When someone fails for the first time, and second time, he will ultimately get discouraged and stop," he added.
Union Power Minister said the government will revive the Tulbul project on the Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir as it no longer needs Pakistan's consent after the Centre put the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance.
The Union Minister also said India will "definitely" work on new hydro-electric projects in the wake of the suspension of the IWT with Pakistan following April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
"Before, whenever we had to undertake some work, we had to discuss that with them (Pakistan) and could not do anything without their consent.
"There was a project (Tulbul) under Wular Lake which was conceived in 1981. But, they did not give their consent and it was shelved. Now, when there is no need (for consent), we will restart the project and a DPR will be prepared soon," Khattar said here.
He was addressing a press conference on the completion of 11 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.
Asked if the government would start working on new hydro-electric projects following the suspension of the IWT, the Union minister said, "Yes, definitely."
"Whatever they have to do, let them do that. We have given them a response and if they do anything again, they will get a response on the same pattern," he said when asked about Pakistan warning of building any projects.
The Tulbul project, which envisaged constructing a 439-ft-long and 40-ft-wide barrage with a storage capacity of 0.30 million-acre-feet (MAF) below the Wular Lake near Ningli in north Kashmir's Bandipora district to stabilise Jhelum's water level, was abandoned midway in 1987 after strong objections from Pakistan.
Omar said discussions are being held with the Centre on the resumption of development projects in the Union territory that were halted due to the Indus Water Treaty.
With the treaty in abeyance in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Abdullah said there are two projects -- one in Kashmir and the other in Jammu -- on which work can begin soon.
"After the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, we have two projects on which work can start soon, one is in Kashmir and the other is in Jammu. Now, talks are going on with the central government regarding both the projects," Abdullah said here when asked whether the government will take advantage of the IWT being in abeyance.
The chief minister was talking to reporters after a meeting with Union Power, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at the SKICC here.
Last month, Abdullah batted for the revival of the Tulbul navigation project on Wular Lake in north Kashmir's Bandipora district.
Taking to X, the chief minister wondered if work would be resumed now that India has put the IWT in abeyance.
Abdullah's post, however, got mired in a controversy after his rival and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti accused him of making "irresponsible" and "dangerously provocative" statements.
The work on the Tulbul Navigation Barrage was started in the early 1980s, but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan, citing the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
At the review meeting, Abdullah said it was related to centrally sponsored projects and schemes under the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs -- both departments that he handles.
"Overall, progress in both areas has been fairly satisfactory. We also discussed areas where we have expectations from the Centre. In some places, there were minor shortcomings, and we have received suggestions on how to correct them. We will implement those," he said.
To a question on the Power Department facing losses, the chief minister said it is still in debt because there is a difference in the price at which the government purchases and supplies power.
"We are supplying power to everyone on a concession basis. Be it a domestic consumer or commercial consumer or industrial consumer, everyone takes power at concession rates. But it will get better gradually," he said.

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