● Operation Sindoor marked a significant demonstration of India’s military and
strategic prowess through a blend of military and non-military means.
● This multi-dimensional operation successfully neutralized terrorist threats,
deterred Pakistani aggression, and reinforced India’s zero-tolerance policy
toward terrorism, all while maintaining strategic restraint and international
support.
Military Measures
● India employed a range of precise and deliberate military actions to achieve its
objectives.
● The Indian Armed Forces carried out coordinated precision missile strikes on
nine terrorist facilities—four in Pakistan (including Bahawalpur and Muridke)
and five in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (such as Muzaffarabad and Kotli). These
facilities were key command centers for Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), responsible for attacks like Pulwama (2019) and Mumbai
(2008).
● In response to Pakistan’s retaliatory drone and missile attacks on May 7,8 and
9th 2025, targeting multiple Indian cities and military installations, India
launched kamikaze drones to destroy Pakistani air defenses across the country
including neutralising air defence system of Lahore.
● India’s air defense system proved instrumental in neutralizing all incoming
threats, resulting in near zero casualties or material losses, and exposing flaws
in Pakistan’s HQ-9 system.
● India’s counter military actions on night of 9
th and 10
th May also became the
first instance of a country damaging air force camps of a nuclear country.
Within 3 hours 11 bases were attacked including Nur Khan, Rafiqui, Murid,
Sukkur, Sialkot, Pasrur, Chunian, Sargodha, Skaru, Bholari and Jacobabad.
● The scale of destruction was clearly visible in the before and after photos of
Shahbaz airbase at Jacobabad.
● In the strikes various ammunition depots and bases like Sagodha and Bholari
that housed F-16s and JF-17 fighter jets were hit. This led to destruction of 20%
infrastructure of Pakistan’s airforce.
● India bombed Pakistan’s Bholari Air Base killing over 50 people including
Pakistan’s squadron leader Usman Yousuf, 4 airmen among others as well as
destroying Pakistan’s fighter jets.
● Over the course of Operation Sindoor, multiple terror and military locations
across Pakistan were attacked by India.
● Along the LoC, following Pakistani artillery and mortar shelling in the
Poonch-Rajouri sector that targetted civilian areas, Indian troops responded
with calibrated counterfire destroying terrorist bunkers and Pakistani army’s
positions to target civilians.
● This half burnt portrait of Asif Ali Zardari from the smouldering debris of
Rahimyar Khan air base is symbolic devastation of the image of Pakistan.
Non-Military Measures
● India’s non-kinetic efforts were equally significant in shaping the strategic
environment and ensuring public and international support. India leveraged
strategic policy decisions, information dominance, and psychological
operations to isolate Pakistan economically and diplomatically, while bolstering
domestic readiness and international support.
● India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty under Operation Sindoor was a
decisive move with far-reaching consequences. Pakistan, as the lower riparian,
depends on the Indus system for 80% of its 16 million hectares of farmland and
93% of its total water use—sustaining 237 million people and driving a quarter
of its GDP through crops like wheat, rice, and cotton.
● With just 10% live storage capacity (14.4 MAF) at Mangla and Tarbela dams,
any disruption in flows threatens catastrophic agricultural losses, food
shortages, water rationing in major cities, and rolling blackouts that would
cripple industries, including textiles and fertilizers. These shocks could trigger a
broader fiscal and foreign exchange crisis in an already fragile economy.
● For India, the treaty had long constrained infrastructure development in
Jammu and Kashmir, limiting it to run-of-the-river projects. Its suspension
allows India full control over western rivers like Jhelum and Chenab—enabling
new reservoirs, boosting irrigation and hydropower in Jammu & Kashmir,
Ladakh, Punjab, and Haryana, and transforming a diplomatic tool into a
developmental advantage. By suspending this, India gave decisive message that
water and blood cannot flow together.
● India closed the Attari-Wagah border and suspended all bilateral trade with
Pakistan, halting exports of key goods such as onions and restricting imports
like cement and textiles. This decision severed the primary land-based trade
route between the two countries.
● The suspension imposed immediate economic costs on Pakistan, already
grappling with inflation and debt. By choking off these economic lifelines
without engaging in direct military escalation, India reinforced its
zero-tolerance stance while avoiding full-scale conflict.
● India also cancelled visa of all Pakistanis living in India and sent them back in
the immediate aftermath of Pahalgam terrorist attack showing strong resolve
against terrorism.
● India imposed a complete ban on Pakistani artists, halting performances,
screenings, music releases, and cultural collaborations. This ban extended to
streaming platforms, cutting off Pakistan’s cultural influence in India.
● India exposed Pakistan’s terror ecosystem globally and isolated Pakistan
diplomatically.
● These steps imposed tangible economic and diplomatic costs. Collectively,
these actions deepened Pakistan’s isolation and reaffirmed India’s commitment
to a zero-tolerance stance on terrorism.
