Operation Sindoor: The IAF has struck terror camps in Pakistan

“A little while ago, Indian armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor,’ hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed," said India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri, while briefing a media gathering in New Delhi.

Also Read: Pakistan must wake up and smell the geo-economic brew

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution," said the Indian statement.

The Indian government’s spokesperson declined to take any questions.

The Pakistan government acknowledged India’s air strikes against terrorist targets in Punjab and PoJK, but made some claims that India has not confirmed.

The Indian statement said that the attack was ordered after last month’s deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir. “We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable," it said.

Pakistan’s military spokesperson said that residents in Muzaffarabad, the biggest city in PoJK, were jolted awake by huge explosions.

India said three civilians were killed by Pakistani shelling on its side of the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border that divides the province of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Pakistan is caught in a time warp

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed states soared after four heavily armed terrorists emerged from a forest outside Pahalgam last month and shot dead tourists, including honeymooners. India says it has “evidence pointing towards the clear involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists" in that attack. Pakistan has denied any link to the Pahalgam killings.

Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif told the Pakistani news channel Geo TV that India had launched missiles at Pakistan from within its own airspace. Islamabad “will respond to this [attack] at a time and place of its choosing," said a Pakistani army spokesperson. “All of our air force jets are airborne. This is a shameful and cowardly attack that was carried out from within India’s airspace," he said.

The Indian army stated on 7 May that Pakistan had “fired artillery in Bhimber Gali in the Poonch-Rajauri area" in Kashmir, just across the dividing line. India’s armed forces are “responding appropriately in a calibrated manner," the army said in a post on X.

Pakistan has a 650,000-strong military, which is mainly deployed in guarding its borders with India and Afghanistan. India’s military numbers over 1.5 million, but has fewer responsibilities for guarding borders with numerous neighbours.

Also Read: Govt may invoke ESMA to curb hoarding, ensure steady supplies post Operation Sindoor

Operation Sindoor has drawn global attention. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said on X that he is monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely. Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian embassy in Washington said that India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval had spoken to Rubio and “briefed him on the actions taken." US President Donald Trump also responded to media questions about India’s strike, calling it “a shame." “I just hope it ends very quickly," Trump said.

Rubio also said that he would continue to engage with both Indian and Pakistani leadership “towards a peaceful resolution".

The Chinese foreign ministry called India’s action “regrettable," adding that it was “concerned" about the situation. It asked both India and Pakistan to “remain calm, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that may further complicate the situation."

With this retaliatory attack, the ball is now in Pakistan’s court. This is the third time since 2016 that the IAF has struck Pakistani terrorists as a punitive measure. After the Uri attack of 2016, Indian Special Forces had struck several Pakistani terrorist camps. In February 2019, IAF fighter aircraft responded to a major suicide attack that killed at least 40 Indian soldiers in Pulwama, Kashmir, by toss-bombing a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror training camp in Pakistan. In the current instance, the IAF appears to have followed the identical toss-bombing model.

Pakistan’s next move is a matter of speculation, though what’s aired in public can be misleading . Indian defence analysts have cautioned against rushing into any precipitate action.

One analyst said that India should begin by shaping the battlefield and mindsets through “strategic messaging" to convince Pakistan of the seriousness of the current situation. In his words, “India should send out an announcement that it has increased its annual defence spending by 1% of the country’s gross domestic product."

There is broad public approval in India of the decision to hold in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, placing the onus on Pakistan to create the conditions and goodwill for the release of water by India.

This is a pressure tactic that has not been tried before. It shows that armed action is not all that India has at its disposal. And that’s an important point to remember.

The author is a former colonel in the Indian Army.