Operation Sindoor redrew India’s anti-terror doctrine with decisive force

The first anniversary of Operation Sindoor is a moment for India to celebrate a tremendous military success, mourn lost civilians, and to signal a permanent shift towards a far more aggressive doctrine against Pakistan-based terror groups. As I said at the time, it also carried important lessons for the broader international community.

We all recall how the operation was triggered by the horrible Pahalgam terror attack of 22 April 2025, when gunmen from the Pakistan-linked group — The Resistance Front— massacred 26 Indian civilians and tourists in Jammu & Kashmir. The world watched in horror. What would India do?

Public anger was understandably intense, and the Modi government came under immediate pressure to respond in a way that went beyond previous “surgical strikes” and air raids. Military planners developed Operation Sindoor as a limited but high-impact tri-service campaign. It was designed to hit the infrastructure of groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This was a new level of response and one that I fully supported at the time.

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The strikes began on 7 May 2025. Indian officials say over 100 terrorists, including trainers and handlers, were killed and multiple camps destroyed. Not one Indian aircraft was lost, and Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems were successfully jammed or bypassed. New Delhi quickly notified Islamabad via military and diplomatic channels that it was prepared to stop there if Pakistan chose not to retaliate.

Pakistan did retaliate. On 8 May it launched coordinated drone and missile attacks on more than a dozen Indian military sites. India’s air defence grid intercepted most incoming weapons, but the exchange did mark the start of a brief, four-day conflict. This period saw India escalate with further strikes, including a daring pre-dawn attack on 10 May against 11 Pakistani air bases, hitting radar systems, hangars, runways and command facilities. This is what real leadership looks like!

By mid-May, both sides stepped back. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh later told Parliament that India “stopped it voluntarily, on our own terms,” having achieved its primary aim of destroying key terror infrastructure and signalling a new red line.

On the first anniversary of the operation, the Indian Army released a strong message, saying: “India does not forget… when boundaries of humanity are crossed, the response is decisive. Justice is served.”

Operation Sindoor was the moment when India finally abandoned “strategic restraint” in favour of “offensive defence”: not seeking territorial gains or regime change but imposing sharp punishment on the rogue Pakistani state whenever it is seen to shelter or enable cross-border terrorism. This was a pivotal moment in the history of the regime.

It was not about some magic, one-night solution to jihadist extremism; it was about imposing real, measurable costs on those who organise, arm and shelter the gunmen who massacre Indian pilgrims and tourists. In that sense, it has already delivered: infiltration attempts have fallen. Pakistan has been forced to divert precious resources into air defence and base protection and must factor in the risk of another sudden, precise Indian strike.

Internationally, Sindoor has also shifted perceptions of India’s role. Western capitals that once saw New Delhi as cautious now acknowledge that India is willing to act in its own neighbourhood, using calibrated force to uphold red lines on terrorism.

At the same time, and equally importantly, countries that rely on Pakistani cooperation have been forced to confront the costs of looking the other way while anti-India groups operate with impunity. I think that Sindoor has strengthened India’s argument in global forums that cross-border terrorism is not a “local dispute” but a threat to regional stability. Democracies must be allowed a degree of offensive defence when their civilians are targeted.

Looking back, I am glad that India did not simply absorb a bloody attack and issue statements; it demonstrated that it can reach deep into hostile territory with accuracy and discipline, then stop on its own terms. It was decisive and inspirational.

New Delhi has signalled that when the “boundaries of humanity” are crossed, India will not hesitate to hit back across the Line of Control and beyond. It has the intelligence, the technology and the political will to defend its citizens swiftly, decisively and at a time of its choosing. The world must learn from this courageous example.

(David Vance is a political commentator and author. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)