Doctors, drones and deterrence: Pak's stealth war in a post-Sindoor India

Sindoor reshaped the rules of engagement, but the ISI has adapted with ferocity, breathing life into networks that no longer rely on armed militants but on India's own talent, technology, and trust. The frontlines now run through city lanes, payment apps, hospital corridors, and neighbourhood WhatsApp groups.

- BRIJESH SINGH

An NSG team and forensic technicians investigate the spot of the blast in a Hyundai i20 car near Gate no 1 of the Red Fort Metro station, in Delhi on Monday. ANI

(ANI)

In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, a military operation launched by India in May 2025, the nation witnessed a moment of decisive action-a surgical strike aimed at dismantling terror infrastructure across its borders.

The operation was a stark reminder of the resolve to protect Indian soil from cross-border aggression, leaving many hopeful that this would mark the end of a violent chapter in Indo-Pak relations. Yet, as the dust settled, a more insidious reality began to emerge-a shadowy architecture of terror, silently reconfigured by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), unfolding like a phantom from the veil of peace.

The immediate impact of Operation Sindoor was palpable. Key terror camps and infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were reduced to rubble, and the diplomatic fallout placed Islamabad on the defensive. Emboldened by international support, India signalled a new era of deterrence-terror would no longer go unchallenged. But the ISI's response was not one of confrontation; it was a calculated pivot, a strategic retreat into the shadows. The old playbook of overt infiltration and mass radicalization had become obsolete, its risks too great in an era of heightened global scrutiny. Instead, the ISI embarked on crafting a new paradigm-a stealthier, more insidious model of hybrid warfare.

The first whispers of this new strategy emerged not from the rugged terrains of Kashmir but from the unlikeliest of places-a nondescript house in Faridabad and the bustling streets of Ahmedabad. What linked these disparate locations was not the presence of armed militants but the involvement of respected professionals-doctors.