PAKISTAN obviously learned a lesson from Operation Sindoor, the military offensive that India undertook against it mainly targeting terrorist outfits, following the Pulwama terrorist mayhem on April 22 last year. The Indian response was swift, this coming in a matter of a fortnight, starting from May 7 and running into three days and nights. This, by far, was the strongest response from India to Pakistan in situations of attacks on Indian soil from Pakistan-trained Kashmiri militants. The Surgical Strikes in 2019, ordered by the Narendra Modi government in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir, paled in significance compared to the stronger military offensive last year. A mediation from the US president Donald Trump helped end the engagement through an abrupt ceasefire. Trump’s claim was that India and Pakistan were edging towards a nuclear disaster, as Pakistan caught in an unenviable situation would have initiated such a front against India.
On the positive side, a prolonged war and more devastation were avoided. India could drill sense into the heads of the Pakistani generals and put the political establishment there on full alert against such future machinations. India has demonstrated as to what extent it was prepared to go if there is going to be a recurrence. The lack of an aggressive response from India to the Mumbai terror attacks during the UPA term of Manmohan Singh had emboldened the Pakistani military establishment to aggressively pursue their agenda of bleeding India with a thousand cuts. Days were when the Pakistani generals threatened India with a nuclear attack should New Delhi dare plan a military offensive. Their bluff was called in 2019 itself, when IAF jets reached upto the military headquarters of Rawalpindi, unchallenged. That they, however, dared to continue with their patronage of terror was evident from the Pulwama massacres.
Clearly, Operation Sindoor sent the right signals to the Pakistani establishment. There have been fewer terrorist attacks in Kashmir in the last one year. After the Surgical Strikes, the frequent and unprovoked border firings from the Pakistani soldiers along the Line of Control had also subsided. Terrorist outfits in Pakistan are reportedly facing serious odds and this is true of those in the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir too – a beehive of Kashmiri terrorists for many years. What hurts Pakistan is also the abrogation of the Indus Water Treaty by India following the Pulwama attack. India faced odds too in the form of Pakistan’s denial of its flying zones to Indian aircraft, which were subsequently forced to take circuitous routes, resulting in a hike in airfares that hit passengers. Overall, Operation Sindoor was the right response at the right time. Peace in the subcontinent is easier said than done. Multiple geopolitical interests are clashing, with the US siding with Pakistan often even as Washington speaks out against terrorism. China, nearer home, is fishing in troubled waters. American dependence on Pakistan is increasing with Islamabad’s mediatory role in the Iran war while India finds itself at odds with the US on several fronts.
