India demonstrates its diplomatic & military prowess through Operation Sindoor
Dr. Prashant Prabhakar Deshpande has post-graduated in Economics with a Gold Medal in 1976 and was awarded a Ph.D in Social Sciences from Nagpur University in 2007.
In a significant counter-terror operation named 'Sindoor,' India targeted key terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK in retaliation to the Pahalgam attack. The strikes, executed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force, focussed on Bahawalpur and Muridke, known centres for Jaish -e-Mohammed (JeM) Lashkar -e- Taiba (LeT) respectively.
Operation Sindoor, a coordinated, multi-service strike by Indian forces devastated key terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Among the most strategically important targets hit were Bahawalpur and Muridke, known for decades as the nerve centres of JeM and LeT respectively. Intelligence inputs and satellite reconnaissance helped identify 9 terror sites, 4 in Pakistan and 5 in PoK housing critical infrastructure used for recruitment, indoctrination, and training of terrorists with Bahawalpur and Muridke high on that list. These locations reportedly were part of a larger network of 21 indoctrination and launch pad centres spread across the region and maintained by Pakistan for over 3 decades. The strikes came in direct response to the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22, which killed 26 Hindu tourists.
Bahawalpur: The headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed
Bahawalpur, located around 100 km inside Pakistan's Punjab province, has long been the ideological and operational epicentre of JeM which has served as the primary headquarters of JeM since 2015. At Bahawalpur, JeM has been known to conduct regular arms training, physical combat exercises, and intense indoctrination targeting young recruits from across the region & has been known to be directly associated with major terrorist plots, the Pulwama attack of February 14, 2019 which killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel. The precision missile strikes by Indian armed forces left this terror bastion in ruins.
Muridke: Lashkar's cradle of jihad
Muridke, located 18–25 kms inside Pakistan is LeT's terror front with Markaz Taiba, a vast training and radicalisation complex established in 2000 known as the nourishing mother of LeT cadres which has churned out hundreds of operatives each year, offering training in arms, physical endurance, and religious extremism. The site has also attracted international terrorists including Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker captured alive in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as well as David Headley, both trained at Markaz Taiba.
Muridke Markaz, the headquarters of L-e-T has evolved into a terror nursery, grooming children, and youths for attacks in India. Established in 1988 by Hafiz Saeed, the complex serves as a training ground, indoctrination centre and logistical base. It had links to Osama bin Laden and has been implicated in major terror attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Operation Sindoor: A coordinated & precise response
Operation Sindoor, in a joint offensive by the Army, Navy, and Air Force was carried out between 1:05 am and 1:30 am. The operation marked a tactical shift in India's counter-terror response moving beyond retaliatory strikes in PoK to deep-targeting key terror infrastructure well inside Pakistani territory.
Post-strike visuals show widespread structural collapse, with several buildings flattened by the precision-guided munitions used during the operation. This was not a random air raid, rather the targets were based on credible intelligence input to avoid damage to civilian infrastructure and loss of civilian lives.
With Operation Sindoor, India has crossed an important political and military barrier demonstrating that it has the capability to strike targets almost anywhere in Pakistan without physically crossing the Line of Control or the international border. This is a marked change from the 2016 surgical strikes after the Uri attack, where Indian forces crossed LoC but stayed within 1 km to destroy terror launchpads on the Pakistan side. In 2019, Indian fighter jets went further into Pakistan territory to hit J-e-M targets in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This time, however, Indian forces did not physically cross LoC and used standoff weapons operated from within Indian territory.
What Pakistan was aiming at
The state of Jammu & Kashmir, over the last couple of years has been witnessing an encouraging economic boom with tourists from all over India and abroad visiting the place in numbers never seen before. Tourist operators, local shopkeepers, shikara and boat owners, hotel and restaurant owners, bus and pony providers were more than happy at this economic resurgence, something that had been irking the Pakistani mischief-makers.
It must be realised that the shocking attack at Pahalgam was driven by a much larger evil objectives that meets the eye. The attack was perhaps also aimed at diverting the attention of the Pakistani people from their own miserable and poverty-stricken existence.
Government's response to Jingoistic media
Over the last many days, the media had been voicing their thoughts and suggestions offering best options for India to teach Pakistan a lesson they will not forget following certain overzealous analysts. However, those responsible for India's security did not get carried away by media-provoked jingoism. Realising that the armed forces, once employed, will carry out their operations when fully ready and select their targets with care at a time and place of their own choosing the PM provided them full operational freedom which culminated into the success of Operation Sindoor which avenged the terrorist act perpetrated by the Pakistan harboured terrorists.
Epilogue
The continuing retaliatory attacks by Pakistan on Indian positions in spite of cease fire reportedly reached between India & Pakistan to stop firing & military action is indicative of the fact that, neither Pakistan has learnt or intends to learn a lesson from the success of Operation Sindoor.
In its counter attack in response to the Pahalgam attack India had consciously targeted the terrorist camps in Pakistan taking care not to escalate the situation lest it should culminate into a full-fledged war. India has thus decisively demonstrated its diplomatic & military prowess & sincerity in dealing with the states harbouring terrorists through Operation Sindoor.
It is noteworthy that India's external affairs minister S. Jaishankar has reiterated India's uncompromising and resolute stance against terrorism in all its firms. It is unlikely that after Operation Sindoor Pakistan would dare repeat the mistake at least for the time being.
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