Opinion After Operation Sindoor, a new normal with Pakistan
Terms of engagement stand changed. The operation contains many lessons and messages in its cold start and hard stop
Operation Sindoor has set a new benchmark and created a new normal in India’s security doctrine. 
In its history with Pakistan, India has tried every option to establish a normal relationship as was the promise after the creation of that state, and as behoves two neighbours. The unfortunate reality is that none of these have worked. There are many reasons, but lack of effort on India’s part is not one of them. All we have to do is look at the record of successive Indian prime ministers and governments, including that of PM Narendra Modi. The answer lies in the nature of the Pakistani state and the makeup of those who have governed it since its inception. India would like a Pakistan that is at peace with itself and comfortable in its skin. It seems that this is asking for too much.
Generations of Indians have been schooled in the belief that India is fated to live with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism as a permanent condition of existence. We were told the path to peace and security lay in dialogue and a settlement with Pakistan on Kashmir. Traditional wisdom was that the alternative was an all-out war that would be imposed by a nuclearised Pakistan driven by a suicidal zeal. Further, the reprieve for India would only be temporary because Pakistan would regroup and either upgrade its weapons of terror or develop new instruments. In practical terms, this meant that India had to rest content in the knowledge of the existence of terrorist infrastructure such as in Bahawalpur and Muridke, and wring its hands on the international stage, hoping for fairness and the triumph of good over evil. The launch pads were out of bounds for India. Pakistan’s low-cost high-return strategy was working.
Operation Sindoor has set a new benchmark and created a new normal in India’s security doctrine. It contains many messages and lessons in its cold start and hard stop characteristics. Its planning, execution and conclusion are all worthy of study. The cold-blooded slaying of innocent civilians in Pahalgam on April 22 was a planned attack, the stage for which was set by an unprovoked incendiary speech by the Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir of the Pulwama fame on April 15. The date was fine-tuned for maximum publicity to coincide with the presence of the US Vice President in India and for maximum embarrassment by forcing PM Modi to cut short his Saudi Arabia visit.
The planners acted in full knowledge of the likely consequences. Operation Sindoor was executed with deliberation and after enough signalling to Pakistan and the world before its launch. It was conducted not by subterfuge but with steely determination in what can be described as the equivalent of an open-book examination. This was an expression of national will, implicit in which was the readiness to pay a price for the action. The targeting of the nine terror facilities in Punjab and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir was more elaborate and the platforms used more sophisticated than in Balakot in 2019. Till a few years ago, no one in India believed that could strike such targets.
The post-mortem of the military and operational aspects of the operation has already begun, but what is clear is that the following objectives have been achieved. One, despite the highest state of alert, India was able to breach defences and strike its targets, including terrorists. There was full confidence in managing and repulsing retaliatory attacks and readiness to inflict even greater punishment. Two, the terms of engagement with Pakistan have been changed for a long time to come. India is done with the charade of exchanging dossiers and evidence and being a plaintiff before a UN Security Council whose methods allow Pakistan to take refuge behind one of its Permanent Members. Three, Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail and threat of an uncontrolled war have been exposed. Pakistan has held the world and India to nuclear blackmail for far too long. The nuclear bluff was called out. Four, India has shed its reticence towards military action for fear of “internationalising” the Kashmir issue. Five, a psychological barrier and the mindset of the past have been broken. Swift, clinical and controlled anti-terror military action of our choosing is possible, keeping the initiative with us.
Given the current state of the relationship, dialogue with Pakistan is a remote possibility. Nothing much is likely to change in the relationship. Pakistan will use this opportunity to go into overdrive on the Kashmir issue. It will, however, find more deaf than receptive ears. Kashmir is neither the root nor the solution to the problems between India and Pakistan. This is myth promoted by Pakistan is as flawed as the idea that 1947 was the solution. The stand taken by most countries, above all the Gulf and Islamic states, in the last many years, including at the time of the abrogation of Article 370, vindicates this. The dominant sentiment in the world is of relief over the rapid improvement in the situation in Kashmir. The worry is about the poison of radicalisation and extremism emanating from Pakistan. Operation Sindoor has focused renewed attention on Pakistan’s links with terrorism and its nuclear brinkmanship.
Details about what went on behind the scenes will emerge in time. Regardless, a ceasefire would not have been possible without the application of full military pressure by India, and its readiness to call a halt. Pakistan’s announcement to call a meeting of its National Command Authority on the fourth day was a definite trigger for US intervention. Such cataclysmic events have earlier led to political upheavals within Pakistan, such as after the 1999 Kargil War. The position of Army Chief Asim Munir deserves a close watch. As we go forward, the best response to Pahalgam is to build on the gains in Kashmir and give its people the stability and prosperity they have welcomed.
The writer is former deputy, NSA, former ambassador to Russia and convenor, NatStrat
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