The Many Messages in Operation Sindoor

While Escalation Is a Concern, the Real Challenges for India Are the Breakdown of the Ceasefire at the LOC and Getting Caught in a Bilateral Back-and-Forth with Pakistan

- Happymon Jacob

Operation Sindoor, a series of punitive, "pre-emptive" military strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces in the early hours of May 7, marks a major departure in India's counter-terrorism policy.

The Indian decision to strike targets deep inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and mainland Pakistan, braving potential military retaliation from that country, underscores India's willingness to expand the scope of measures to punish those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack and a decision to disregard advice from the international community to exercise restraint.

The surgical strikes of 2016 signaled a clear political intent that Delhi is no longer willing to sit back in the face of terror attacks, even if the actual material damage on the Pakistani side was limited.

The 2019 strikes raised the stakes, further reinforcing the political intent in New Delhi to abandon strategic restraint.

The latest strikes have not only re-emphasized this political intent, they also have expanded the scope of India's military response.

The significance of the May 7 strikes arises from a number of interrelated factors.

First, New Delhi's actions have effectively normalized a new counter-terrorism doctrine, grounded in the principle that India will respond militarily to terrorist attacks, regardless of the consequences.

Second, by unilaterally proceeding with its punitive response without consulting or convincing the international community, India has effectively turned the argument that it must satisfy global expectations on its head.

If the international community is genuinely concerned about escalation between the two nuclear powers and wants a peaceful South Asia, it must press Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism rather than urging India to suffer acts of terror without responding.