Pak deep state misfires, massive defence spend comes a cropper

THE ESCALATION was from across the border when heavily armed terrorists mercilessly gunned down 26 innocent tourists. 25 Indians and a Nepalese national, at Baisaran in Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.

- BALA CHAUHAN @Bengaluru

In response, India unleashed 24 missiles in 25 minutes beginning 1 am on May 7 on nine terror bases; four in Pakistan, including Bahawalpur in Punjab, Muridke and Sialkot, and five in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), under 'Operation Sindoor'.

Bahawalpur and Muridke are the strongholds of proscribed terrorist organisations Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). 'Operation Sindoor' was jointly executed by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, utilising special precision munitions. All the nine targets were successfully neutralised in a span of 25 minutes.

Within 24 hours, on the intervening night of May 7 and 8, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India, including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles.

"These were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems," the Ministry of Defence stated. In response, the Indian armed forces targeted Air Defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan, including Lahore and Rawalpindi.

In the background of 'Operation Sindoor' and Pakistan's response to it, strategists are questioning the defence capabilities of Islamabad, which with a defence budget of Pakistani Rs 2.12 lakh crore (INR 64,082 crore) for FY 2024-25 is at 1.7% of their gross domestic product (GDP).