New Delhi: A week after launching ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed down a blunt message to the Indian armed forces: if Pakistan misbehaves, hit back hard and fast. According to sources in the government, the approach to India’s response to every provocation has obviously changed. The strategy of ‘Aaharta’ (assertiveness) translates to ‘Sajag Bharat, Samwad Bharat’ (A vigilant and dialogic India).
Under this policy, ‘Operation Sindoor’, a slew of surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control rage on. India precariously slips from its latest 2nd to 3rd normal status in extinguishing cross-border terrorism. A renewed focus on the emergency wartime crush, forced by a deadly attack in Pahalgam, has made the operation a mainstay of India’s narrative of eliminating enemies. Any mediation on Kashmir would be seen as interference in India’s internal affairs. Modi has pushed the narrative that any meaningful dialogue is about reclaiming the PoK. Insiders quoted the prime minister as saying, “The only issue remaining is the return of PoK.”
The Indian military decimated the terrorist infrastructure across the border in Pakistan in the opening salvos of the operation. It sent a message to Pakistan’s DGMO about the operation on 7 May. On the other hand, Pakistan did not officially respond. The attacks, most notably the deadliest hit on Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur, showed New Delhi’s determination to attack the main terror bastion — not any small outpost — and revealed the nexus between such groups and Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
The precision strikes by India have brought huge cracks in the military facilities of Pakistan. Rahim Yar Khan airbase, for instance, had its runway blown to smithereens, and Noor Khan airbase in Chaklala was heavily damaged. The message these operations sent was loud and clear: No more will India be hesitant in crossing the border to destroy terror infrastructure and minds from where they are fuelling the fire. The sources also mentioned that the strikes left Pakistan convulsing with shock and compelled to ponder the naked fact of military inferiority to India.
India has drawn a red line in the sand by aiming at valuable sites in Bahawalpur and Muridke. The Khaleej Times quoted the government as saying that there was no future in the region for terrorism and its backers. India is changing the narrative, forcing answers through ‘Operation Sindoor’ and making it clear that the existing order is unacceptable and will not last or last long. As of now, PoK is what matters, and no other front is open to negotiation.