The Pahalgam terror attack has irrevocably changed how India will henceforth address incidents of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks.
NEW DELHI: Operation Sindoor, executed by India on the night of 6-7 May 2025, has transformed the dynamics of India’s response mechanism to cross-border terrorism. The horrific attack on tourists in Pahalgam on 22 April, where Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 26 people in cold blood after carrying out religious profiling, stirred the nation’s conscience like never before. With this act of terror, Pakistan had crossed the proverbial “Lakshman Rekha”. A stunned nation demanded justice for the victims, and the Indian Prime Minister, in a message to the people of India and the world, delivered on 24 April in Bihar, stated unequivocally and unambiguously that the perpetrators of this heinous crime would be punished. India had crossed the Rubicon. There was no turning back now, and the world awaited the Indian response with bated breath. It was not long in coming. Fifteen days later, justice was served through Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan has used terrorism as a tool of its foreign policy since the 1980s. India has remained restrained, reactive, and defensive in its responses to counter this threat, a strategy that has neither dissuaded nor deterred Pakistan. The Indian leadership has made periodic efforts to achieve lasting peace, such as Prime Minister Vajpayee’s famous bus trip to Lahore in February 1999. However, that did not prevent the Pakistani establishment from violating the Simla Accord and launching an attack to capture the Kargil heights in the summer of that year.
When Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014, he initially sought peace with Pakistan, inviting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in and later visiting Lahore. However, hopes of peace were dashed by the January 2016 Pathankot attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists, proving once again that Pakistan’s military, not its civilian leadership, held absolute power. The Uri attack in September 2016 led to India’s retaliatory surgical strikes across the LoC, marking a strategic shift and halting bilateral talks under the principle that “talks and terror can’t coexist.” Despite this, terrorism continued, culminating in the Pulwama suicide bombing in February 2019. India responded with an airstrike on a terror camp in Balakot, further eroding Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence narrative and signalling that its airspace was no longer off-limits.
With the revocation of the special status of J&K in August 2019 and the splitting of the state into two union territories, the level of violence saw a dramatic decrease in Jammu and Kashmir. However, everything changed when tourists holidaying in Pahalgam were attacked by The Resistance Front (TRS), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-backed terrorist organisation based in Pakistan.
The Pahalgam terror attack has irrevocably changed how India will henceforth address incidents of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks. Soon after the attack, India announced the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, revoked visas issued to Pakistani citizens, and downgraded diplomatic missions by sending back Pakistan’s military attachés. These non-kinetic measures are a first for India and will have dramatic consequences for Pakistan. While the immediate impact of these measures is limited, over time, the consequences will be telling and hurt Pakistan if it continues to use terrorism as a tool of its foreign policy.
Two weeks after the Pahalgam attack, India launched its kinetic response on 7 May. This involved nine coordinated attacks on the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. All were destroyed in an attack executed over 25 minutes. The Operation was codenamed Sindoor.
The naming of the operation held symbolic significance, as did the press conference the following day to announce the mission’s success and provide details of the targets destroyed and the reasons behind the action. Sindoor, or vermilion powder, serves as a warrior’s mark, applied on the foreheads of soldiers going into battle. It symbolises Goddess Parvati, the epitome of marital devotion. Married Hindu women apply sindoor in the parting of their hair, signifying that they are married and their husbands are alive. Thus, sindoor possesses traditional and cultural significance.
The men killed in Pahalgam were shot through the head by the terrorists after they were identified as Hindu. And they were shot in front of their wives and children. Naming the operation “Sindoor” aimed to humanise the victims and survivors of the massacre, ensuring their lives are not reduced to mere numbers. It also represented a statement of intent: India will strike to avenge the loss of lives that were dear and celebrated. Two women officers in the press conference chaired by the foreign secretary provided the operational details. That, too, was symbolic. It was a message from women across India to the killers: You will be found and brought to justice.
The nine targets destroyed in the 7-8 May attack were longstanding headquarters of terrorist groups responsible for decades of attacks against India. Each was completely demolished, killing those inside. Strikes on locations such as Bahawalpur and Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province sent a clear and powerful message: no region in Pakistan would be beyond the reach of Indian action against terrorism. To the terrorists, the warning was unequivocal—they would be hunted down. And this message was symbolically conveyed by the women officers on behalf of all Indian women.
As expected, Pakistan conducted retaliatory strikes against some forward bases in India on the following night. Missile and drone attacks targeted several military installations extending from Awantipura in the Kashmir Division to Bhuj. India’s Integrated Counter UAS Grid and air defence systems neutralised all of them. India responded by targeting air defence radars and systems at various locations in Pakistan. The air defence system in Lahore was neutralised, while the outcomes of the attacks in other areas are yet to be determined. The overnight operations revealed weaknesses in Pakistan’s air defence systems while validating the effectiveness of India’s air defence. The next night, too, Pakistan carried out drone strikes, which once again were ineffective.
Operation Sindoor’s message extends beyond immediate actions. Most significantly, it underscores a renewed commitment to tackle terrorism originating from Pakistan. India has demonstrated its capability to eliminate terrorists within Pakistan, regardless of their location. This has set a new standard for future anti-terrorism operations conducted by India. No territory within Pakistan will henceforth be exempt from Indian attacks. Neither will Pakistan be able to use the threat of nuclear blackmail to escape the consequences of terrorist attacks originating from its territory. That, too, is the new normal.
This policy shift in India’s fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism marks a transition from dissuasion to deterrence. In the future, a combination of kinetic and non-kinetic measures will make this a policy of compellence, which will then become the new normal. India will then be freed from this scourge emanating from Pakistan.
* Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch is an Indian Army veteran. He is currently the Director of India Foundation, a Delhi-based think tank.