From Uri to doctrine: How 2016 changed India's counter-terror playbook

For India's counter-terrorism and military response doctrine, the September 2016 Uri surgical strike is now believed to be a watershed moment.

- ASHISH SINGH

This cross-border raid in retaliation to a terror attack on Indian soil soon heralded a gradual, but noticeable, change in India's playbook for dealing with similar Pakistan-sponsored heinous activities.

In hindsight, the Uri attack and surgical strike ignited a reorientation that moved India's doctrine away from its habitual restraint and towards calibrated, visible retaliation.

The evolution that began from the Uri surgical strikes in 2016, through the Pulwama-Balakot sequence in 2019, and the various thwarted infiltration attempts from 2020-24, has crystallised during Operation Sindoor in 2025.

This change is the story of a country moving from absorbing blows to imposing costs, and from reactive silence to shaping the narrative.

2016 URI ATTACK: THE TRIGGER POINT
On 18 September 2016, four heavily armed terrorists stormed an Army installation in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers. For decades, New Delhi had responded to similar provocations with caution, guided by concerns over nuclear escalation and international intervention. Uri proved different.

Within ten days, India authorised surgical strikes across the Line of Control, targeting terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the night of 28-29 September. Announced publicly by the Director General of Military Operations, the strikes showcased not only military precision but also political will. The choice to publicise the operation was decisive. Until then, covert cross-LoC actions had been carried out, but they were never officially acknowledged. By taking ownership, India reframed both domestic expectations and global perceptions. The precedent of silence was broken, and a new template had been set.

FROM SURGICAL STRIKES TO BALAKOT