Best of Both Sides | Sindoor 2.0 must go beyond deterrence |
On May 7, 2025 at 0105 hours, India launched Operation Sindoor with precision strikes on nine terrorist bases in Pakistan, to avenge the brutal killing of 26 civilians in Pahalgam. A year on, the operation deserves sober appraisal. Did we achieve our objective of lasting deterrence or did it merely reset the clock on a cycle of violence? More importantly, if Pakistan sponsors another terror attack, how should India respond? What should be the strategy for Sindoor 2.0?
Some analysts argue that India should have pressed the advantage further. Sindoor, however, was never intended to be a full-scale war. It was a response short of war — limited in scope, space and intensity, designed to punish the perpetrators of terror while preserving the option to escalate. When Pakistan sought a ceasefire on May 10, India accepted, as the objectives — destruction of terrorist infrastructure and a demonstrable punitive message — had been met. Yet deterrence is not a single act but a posture sustained over time by certainty, severity and credibility. So, sceptics may rightly ask whether deterrence will endure.
Sindoor’s political fallout for the Pakistan army was limited. Paradoxically, it has been able to recast itself as a stabilising force on the international stage, even as it retains the option to sponsor further proxy violence. After the defeat in 1971, the Pakistan army’s strategic........