Operation Sindoor, A Series of Punitive, “Pre-Emptive” Military Strikes Carried Out By The Indian Armed Forces in the Early Hours of May 7, Marks A MARKS A MAJOR DAPARTURE in India ‘. The Indian Decision to Strike Targets Deep Inside Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (Pok) and Mainland Pakistan, Braving Potential Military Retaliation from that COUNTRY, UndersCorse Indian ‘Willingnssnssns Top Scope of measures to punish that those responsible for the Pahalgam Terror Attack and A Decision to disregard Advice from the International Community to Exercise Restraint. The Surgical Striks of 2016 Signalled a clear political intent that Delhi is no longer willing to sit back in the face of terrror attackers, even if the ACTUL DAMAGEGE on the pakstani is the pakstani. The 2019 striks raised the stakes, further reinforcing the political intent in new delhi to abandon strategic restraint. The latest strips have not only re-reduced this political intent, they also have expanded the scope of India’s Military Response.
The significance of the may 7 striks aries from a number of interrelated factors. First, New Delhi’s Actions Have Effectively Normalized A New Counter-Terrorism Doctrine, Grounded in the Principle that India will result in militarily to terraror Consequences.
Second, by unilaterally proceeding with its punitive response without consulting on its head. If the International Community is genuinely Concerned about Escalation Between the two nuclear pores and wants a peaceful south asia, its press Pakistan to Stop Supporting TerrorSm Rather India to Suffer Acts of Terror without Responding. The International Community must Stop Confusing The Victim and the Perpetrator.
India’s Unilateral Action without Attempting to satisfy the International Community Alaso Limits Pakistan’s ability to persuade the global community to restrain Indian responses. Put differently, Islamabad will no longer be removed Over International Reactions and beCause the International Community Has Today Indulgent of Pakistani Excesses.
Clearly, the International Community has been less than support of India’s efforts to fight terrorism in the past, and this continues to be the case even after the Recent Attack in Pahalgam. Thanks to their inability to call a spade a spade on the question of terrorism, Several members of the International Community May Have Diminished Their Influence in New Delhi. By Carrying Out Punitive Striks with Regard for “What will otherrs think”, India has said a hard choice for its partners: to stand with it or not stand with it, Eve with Consequences. Being India’s Strategic Partner is not only about access to Indian Markets or Receiving Support when India’s Partners are Having a Bad Day: It also also also also also also also How many India’s Strategic Partners did so after Pahalgam?
Third, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s Systematic Presentation at the Presser Linking The Attacks to the Lashkar-E-Taiba-A Un Proscribed Terror Group Based in Pakistani Right to self-defense, new delhi has effectively managed to tilt the burden of conclusive proof argument against Pakistan. The new Indian argument is that insofar as there are terrrorist organizations in pakistan that have attacked India – which have not been brieft to justice by islamabad Pakistani Complicity. Forensic evidence is not always readily available, can be disputed, and by the time evidence is gathered, the options for action for action may have already passed. More So, India’s Experience of Giving Evidence to Pakistan and Accepting Joint Investigations into Terror Attacks Have Not Produced Any Results in the Past. The Trial in the 2008 Mumbai Attack is an example of the former, and India Inviting Pakistani Investigators Into Pathankot Airbase for Joint Investigations in 2016 is an example of the latter.
Operation Sindoor has also shown that the International Community’s Nuclear Fears are Misplaced, and Part of that Fear has been a product of Pakistan’s defted Diplomacy. In 2016, 2019, and now, in 2025, Neither Side (Or at least no one in charge) Made any mention of the use of nuclear weapons, even in Pakistan. And because Pakistan has not used the nuclear argument, its nuclear bluff of full spectrum war against Indian aggression also stands called. Given Its Conventional Inferiority Relative to India, Islamabad has Consistently Tried to Link Conventional Conflict with Nuclear Dangers, While Simultaneous Mantaining Denial Over Sub-Conventional Attacks against India, to avoid triggering a conventional response.
Operation Sindoor Calls Both The Bluffs: It Removes The Space Between Sub-Conventional and Conventional AGGRESSION, and by Carrying Out a Series of Conventional Strikes disregarding Pakistani Has Called Its Nuclear Bluff. Put differently, Pakistan can no longer depend on nuclear threats to deter Indian conventional attacks in response to sub-conventional agration.
While Escalation remains a concern, the real challenge for India is two-fold: the breakdown of the ceasefire at the line of control (locked) and Getting Caugt in a bilateral back-get-in-the-off. The former will demand more military commission at the location and in kashmir, and the latter will be at the cost of India’s Grander Foreign Policy Objectives when it Comes to the Global Arena. While India’s demonstration of resolve is a Major political signal to its partners and adversaries alike, that it is a decisive Military actor, it is not in new deli’s interest to get in conflict with Pakistan in the longer run.
HappyMon Jacob Teaches India’s Foreign Policy at Jawaharlal Nehru University and is Editor, India’s’s World, A Foreign Affairs magazine. The views expressed are personal
