Will Pakistan Behave After Operation Sindoor?

Editor's Note

"Will Pakistan Behave After Operation Sindoor ?" The very title of the article is a big question raised by Brig BL Poonia. The author analyses it by going deep into the history and root causes of the problem, that led to various wars fought since then, followed by multiple massacres orchestrated by Pakistan, finally leading to Operation Sindoor.

The article explains this complex question with utmost clarity, which would leave a few or no doubts in the minds of the readers .

All images are representative

Col Vinay B Dalvi,

Editor, MVI

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Introduction

Well, this is one question every citizen of India wants to know? To know the answer we need to understand Pakistan’s psyche and the past record of its conduct. The biggest punishment it ever received was during the 1971 war, when East Pakistan was converted into Bangladesh, and 93,000 Prisoners of War were made to surrender. But did Pakistan start behaving after that? Yes it did, but only for a short span of 17 years, ie from 1972 to 1988. Thereafter it started with its dangerous, deadly and nefarious scheme of terrorism in J&K. Pakistan is not a nation to be trusted.

The Curse of Having Notorious Neighbours

The biggest curse of life is to have a notorious neighbour. India has been suffering Pakistan since 1947 and Israel has been suffering its equally notorious neighbours since 1948. Israel was first attacked by all its neighbours in 1948. Once again it was simultaneously attacked by all in 1967, but it routed their combined military might, whom it defeated decisively. But did they behave after that? No. They again attacked Israel in 1973. While this war ended up in a stalemate, they once again attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, which escalated into a full-fledged war resulting in decimation of Hamas and Hizbollah. But can we expect the adversaries of Israel to behave now? No; they will never do so. They will attack Israel at the first available opportunity after reorganizing themselves, with a greater vengeance. The same applies to Pakistan.

Pakistan is a notorious neighbour; in fact it is the biggest rogue state on planet earth. It is a cancer which can be controlled but has no permanent cure. On top of that, it is in possession of nuclear weapons. While India follows the doctrine of 'no first use', Pakistan is used to threatening India by flexing its nuclear muscle every time after it indulges in human massacres. While the control over the nuclear button in India is exercised by the elected head of the government, in Pakistan any fanatic and irresponsible Army Chief may press the same, to avoid the humiliation of a military defeat. So while dealing with this immature, irresponsible and a rogue state, nuclear threshold has also got to be kept in mind.

But How Do We Deal With This Deadly Disease?

This is another pertinent question, "In dealing with Pakistan, are we treating the disease or only the symptoms?" Well, to treat a disease, we need to diagnose the same. The disease in this case is the common psyche of Pakistan's frustrated Army Generals, its fanatic religious leaders, the government of Pakistan, Pakistan's political leaders, and various leaders of the militant groups that have been nurtured by Pakistan since 1980. The humiliation of the Pak defeat during the 1971 War troubles them more than anything else. So they want to avenge the same by capturing J&K, just because it is a Muslim dominated state.

India tried to treat this disease during the 1947-48 War, 1965 War, 1971 War, and 1999 Kargil Conflict, but found that the very psyche of Pakistan is a deadly cancer, which has no permanent cure. This was evident from the major symptoms that manifested during the last 25 years, starting from Chattisinhpura massacre (2000), Parliament attack (2001), Kaluchak attack (2002), Mumbai massacre (2008), Uri attack (2016), Pulwama attack (2019) and Pahalgam massacre (2025). Since the year 2000, India had postured to attack Pakistan only once, ie after the Parliament attack in 2001. However, this military stand-off got called off due to international pressure. So ultimately, it amounted to letting off Pakistan without any punishment.

Treating the Symptoms

This obviously encouraged Pakistan to continue with its nefarious activities with an increased degree of confidence, especially when Dr Manmohan Singh government failed to make even a symbolic gesture of retaliation after the Mumbai massacre of 2008. Unfortunately, this government didn't even protest verbally, leave apart retaliating militarily, and the worse was that it tried to suppress the role of Pakistan by terming it as Hindu terrorism orchestrated by RSS.

The book 'RSS ki Sazish - 26/11', authored by Mr Aziz Burney of Pakistan was released by Mr Digvijay Singh in Delhi and Mumbai to give it a wide publicity, and to highlight the issue, Mr Aziz Burney was honoured by Dr Manmohan Singh. Moreover, in its efforts to cover up Pakistan's role, this government tried to prove that Kasab was a Hindu terrorist, till he got apprehended and owned up the truth. What better reaction could Pakistan have expected from the Government of India? As a consequence, it acted as a morale boosting factor for Pakistan, since it reinforced the impression, that the nuclear threat by Pakistan was proving to be an effective deterrence to prevent India retaliating against it. Even now, should Dr Manmohan Singh (posthumously), alongwith Mr Digvijay Singh, not be tried on the charge of 'Betrayal of Public Faith'? In fact, this is a serious offence amounting to treason.

While Modi government did raise the level and scale of retaliation after the Uri and Pulwama attacks, by launching surgical strikes and air strikes across the LoC on Pak militant camps, even these actions did not make Pakistan suffer adequately for the crimes it had committed. The militants who got killed due to the Indian retaliation, were in any case meant to die in Indian territory sooner or later. The only difference was that they died in POK. But Pakistan lost nothing at all, as it has no dearth of volunteers for the so-called jihad against India. Hence, Pakistan even denied any action having been taken by the Indian Defence Forces, which was strongly supported by the opposition party leaders of India. Again, what better cooperation could Pakistan have expected from the Indian opposition leaders?

Why China Supports Pakistan?

During the 1950s and 1960s, while Pandit Nehru ruined our relations with China, Pakistan displayed a far-sighted approach by strengthening her relations with China. Brig John Dalvi has rightly mentioned in his book - 'Himalayan Blunder', "Nehru's short-sightedness and negligence with regard to China is remarkable when judged against his far-sightedness in world affairs."

After the 1965 War, Pakistan's Senator (late) Ghulam Faruque, who was Commerce Minister and Defence Advisor to Gen Ayub Khan, told Chou-En-Lai in 1966, during his visit to China, that the nearest outlet for China's trade with Gulf was Karachi, not Shanghai. Chou-En-Lai sent for a map, studied it, and asked him, "When can our Engineers meet?" "As soon as I get back to Islamabad", he replied. And thus was born the strategic Karakoram Highway, connecting China and Pakistan. This was after we had completely ruined our relations with China by fighting for Aksai Chin and Thagla Ridge in 1962, the territories which actually belonged to China, based on a manufactured claim by Pandit Nehru in 1954.

Karakoram Highway is an engineering marvel, no less than an economic asset comparable to Suez Canal of Central Asia, bestowing Pakistan, strategic and economic benefits of great magnitude. This 774 kilometre long highway, completed in 1978, connects Havelian (Pakistan) to Kashgar (China). Through this, it provides China an access to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan. Now China has constructed Gwadar Port, along the Arabian Sea, on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, which is strategically positioned at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant portion of the world’s oil passes.

So why should we be surprised when China supports Pakistan? Afterall, Pakistan has always remained China's all-weather friend. China's support to Pakistan is based more on its friendship with Pakistan, than China's enmity with India. Moreover, China has invested a lot in Pakistan.

Why Does The US need Pakistan?

To Pakistan’s good luck, its geo-strategic and geo-political location makes it equally important, both for the USA and China. Though USA and China are each other's arch rivals, yet both need Pakistan in equal measure. For Pakistan, it is a blessing in disguise. The USA also needs bases in Pakistan, especially along the Arabian Sea to secure the sea lanes to Gulf countries.

No wonder, during 'Operation Sindoor' the USA did not side with India, in spite of India being the victim of Pahalgam massacre and Donald Trump being a good friend of Modi. It tried to remain neutral, in spite of the fact that Osama bin Laden was found sheltered in a Pak military cantonment, even during the period when Pakistan was receiving aid from the USA to contain terrorism. We should realize that national interests invariably take precedence over ethics and personal friendships. Today the US needs Pakistan.

Since mid-1950s, the USA supported India by giving aid through its PL 480 Scheme, since its interest was to weaken China, by encouraging India to fight a war against it. Having achieved its aim by 1962, it armed Pakistan by equipping its Armoured Division with US Patton tanks, which it used against India during the 1965 War. Even during the 1971 War, the US supported Pakistan by posturing the presence of US 7th Fleet in the Bay of Bengal.

In Pakistan there is a popular saying, "Pakistan survives at the mercy of three As : America, Army, and Allah." And interestingly, among these three, America plays the most significant role, followed by the Pakistan Army. However, the public is completely at the mercy of Allah.

Who Made Pakistan An Epicenter of Militancy?

It was the USA, and USA alone who was responsible for making Pakistan the epicenter of militancy. In 1979, when the Afghanistan government was unable to handle militancy, it invited the USSR to do the needful. The US could not tolerate the presence of Soviet forces in Afghanistan, nor could it get involved directly. Hence it asked Pakistan to train Afghan militants using American weapons, ammunition and equipment to fight the Soviet forces. Immense financial and military aid started pouring in, with latest weapons like Stinger missiles. Gen Zia-ul Haq was the President of Pakistan and Ronald Reagan, the President of the USA. Pak ISI trained the militants in their own territory, and launched a jihad by pumping in 20,000 Afghan and Pak militants into Afghanistan who fought for more than nine years from December 1979 to February 1989, forcing the Soviet forces to withdraw. Pakistan thus became a super specialist in training and churning out the most deadly, die-hard, and dangerous terrorists.

The singular aim of the US was to avenge the humiliating defeat suffered at the hands of USSR during the Vietnam War. Having achieved its aim, the US left all its arms, ammunition and equipment in Pakistan only, which it later used in J&K, against India.

This experience of Afghanistan, gave immense confidence to Pakistan Army, which asked itself : "If our ISI trained militants could force a superpower out of Afghanistan, why can't we force the Indian Army out of J&K, using the same militants?" However, they needed local leadership and public support in J&K, which they got in ample measure through Jamat-e-Islami party of J&K.

How Pak Trained Militants Got an Entry Into J&K?

Since 1984, Shri Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India and Farooq Abdullah, the Chief Minister of J&K. In J&K, they ran a coliation government. However in 1987, Jamat-e-Islami emerged as the most popular political party across J&K. They were sure of coming to power, but Farooq Abdullah rigged the State Assembly elections and formed a coliation government with the Congress.

This injustice came as a big shock to Jamat-e-Islami party, which it wanted to avenge. Hence it approached Pakistan to help them out. Pakistan was just waiting for such a golden opportunity which it got on the platter, that too at the right time. The rigging of elections acted as a spark on dry tinder. So Pakistan quietly sent across trained militants, arms, ammunition, and equipment to J&K, and the Jamat-e-Islami cadres provided the required public support. At that time, no one suspected this move, since peace had prevailed in J&K till 1988. Initially they started by hitting at soft targets like the local police and the CPOs, but in January 1990, Pakistan orchestrated an ethnic cleansing of the Hindus and the Sikhs from Kashmir valley. President's rule was imposed immediately. And thus started the militancy in J&K, which continued at a high pitch frequency for the next three decades, till the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Farooq Abdullah immediately escaped to London.

Operation Sindoor

The Pahalgam massacre of April 22, 2025 led to an unprecedented surge of public emotions, which could not be ignored. The whole nation was seething with anger, expecting revenge. The public wanted a convincingly tangible punitive action which could be seen and felt. Moreover, the government was also fed-up of Pakistan’s cunning and shameless mischiefs from time to time. This was the seventh major incident since 2000. So India retaliated by launching 'Operation Sindoor' with effect from May 07, 2025. Initially India hit and destroyed nine militant camps in POK and Pak Punjab. It also included the militant camp in Bahawalpur, which is 100 kilometres across the International Border. Based on the Pak response, India upgraded its retaliation by launching missile strikes on all important Pak military airfields, rendering the same unusable. Thus by May 10, 2025, Pakistan was crippled and rattled completely.

As per some reports in social media, the Indian Air Force hit a missile at the entrance tunnel of Pak nuclear facility at Kirana Hills near Sargodha, which the government is of course denying. This is when Pakistan approached the USA, who could not even believe that India had such a high precision capability. The DGMO Pakistan Army immediately contacted DGMO Indian Army on hotline, requesting for a ceasefire. Since India had achieved its aim, it agreed to the ceasefire proposal of Pakistan. Pakistan then immediately sought help from Egypt and the USA for controlling the nuclear radiation that had leaked out. In fact, this shook up Pakistan completely.

Aim and Achievements of Operation Sindoor

It had a two-fold aim :

● To punish Pakistan convincingly through a tangible kinetic action, with a view to pacify public emotions.

● To draw the Red Line of tolerance, which Pakistan will no longer be allowed to cross.

Through a strong retaliation, India delivered a credible slap against terrorism, which has now forced Pakistan to review and reshape its strategy.

The Red Line has now been drawn making it clear that use of terror as an instrument of statecraft will be met with firm, visible, and punitive consequences.

For Pakistan, the lesson is clear, that continued reliance on non-state actors followed by outright deniability, and nuclear blackmail, will no longer immunise it from punitive consequences. Cross-border terror will invite cross-border consequences.

Though terrorism in Kashmir does not have a military solution per say, since fundamentally it is a political problem, yet to keep it under control, the security forces have an overwhelmingly important role to play.

Which All Countries Supported India?

Russia, Israel, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Japan and Nepal supported India, but USA remained neutral, and the European Union did not go beyond condemning the Pahalgam massacre. Out of the 57 countries of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), only three supported India. And Turkey, where India was the first country to reach with humanitarian aid during the earthquake in February 2023, was the first country to openly send military aid to Pakistan.

The countries supporting Pakistan helped it get a loan of Rs 8,500/- crores on May 09, 2025 from International Monetary Fund, even after the Pahalgam massacre. If the USA wanted to stop it, it could have done so, by exercising the influence of its weightage of vote share. But it didn't.

Can We Now Expect Pakistan to Behave?

No, we cannot. The only answer is to remain prepared, further strengthen our defence capability against Pak missile attacks, and improve upon our offensive missile launching capability to punish Pakistan, whenever it indulges in any act of sabotage or human bloodshed in Indian territory. Any act of terrorism has to be considered as an act of war, and the Indus Water Treaty, which is presently held in abeyance, needs to be abrogated. Also we need to construct dams over Rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, to prevent free flow of water to Pakistan. Pakistan must pay the price for its sins, or else it will keep screwing our happiness, mistaking our decency for weakness. We must always remember, that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

Conclusion

Brig Mohammad Yousaf, the Pakistani ISI Officer Incharge for training the militants to fight against the Soviet forces deployed in Afghanistan during the 1980s, had described the strategy adopted by Pak Army, in his book - 'The Bear Trap - Afghanistan's Untold Story', as follows : "Death by a thousand cuts - this is the time-honoured tactic of the guerrilla army against a large conventional force. In Afghanistan it was the only way to bring the Soviet bear to its knees; the only way to defeat a superpower." And this precisely is the tactic, Pakistan had adopted against India since 1990, that is - for the last 36 years.

Howevever, Pakistan should remember that Kashmir is not Afghanistan, where a foreign Army was operating. Kashmir being an integral part of India, it is the Indian Army which is guarding its territory. 'Operation Sindoor' should drive home this lesson, hard into the minds of Pak Army Generals. Now they, in any case, have been forced to review their strategy of 'death by a thousand cuts'.

And as far as India is concerned, let's not forget what Zarathustra had said in the sixth century BC, "Life is an eternal struggle between the good and the evil forces." Hence we will have to continue fighting the evil forces of Pakistan; there is no other option.