Operation Sindoor: 4 big questions after India’s biggest strike on Pakistan since 1971, answered
Written By Prapti Upadhayay
Published: May 07, 2025, 17:44 IST | Updated: May 07, 2025, 17:44 IST
Story highlights
India news: The strikes were a “focused, measured and non-escalatory” response to the recent attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were brutally killed after being singled out by terrorists.
The Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting nine locations linked to terror groups in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The strikes were a “focused, measured and non-escalatory” response to the recent attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were brutally killed after being singled out by terrorists.
Here are 4 key questions, answered:
Launched at 1.05 am on Wednesday, Operation Sindoor was not only a major strike, it was India’s largest cross-border anti-terror operation since the 1971 war. The offensive hit nine terror-linked sites, including key launchpads and the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, both of which have a long record of attacks on Indian soil.
What makes this different is the scale and geographical spread. Unlike past strikes, which mostly focused on PoK or its edges, this time four targets were deep inside Pakistan’s Punjab, in the districts of Bahawalpur, Sialkot and Sheikhupura.
India has responded militarily to terror attacks before, like in 2016, after soldiers were killed in Uri, and in 2019, after the Pulwama bombing. But both of those counter-strikes focused on camps in PoK or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This time, the target list included sites well within Pakistan’s mainland, signalling a possible shift in India’s posture. Though the strikes were carefully calibrated to avoid hitting Pakistani military facilities, experts say this operation may mark a new threshold in cross-border responses.
There are concerns that this could lead to a wider crisis between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Some security analysts have already called it the “most dangerous” standoff since 2002, even more serious than the Uri or Balakot episodes.
India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval made it clear that India does not seek escalation, but will strike back if provoked.
“NSA briefed his counterparts on actions taken and method of execution, which was measured, non-escalatory and restrained. He emphasised that India had no intent to escalate but was well prepared to retaliate resolutely should Pakistan decide to escalate,” an official told PTI.
Pakistan's leadership has signalled that they might hit back. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country has the right to give a “befitting reply” and added that both the military and the people of Pakistan are united.
“The entire nation is with the Pakistani Armed Forces, and the morale and spirit of the entire Pakistani nation is high. The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani Armed Forces know how to deal with the enemy very well,” his statement read.
A follow-up message from his office confirmed that the military had been authorised to take “corresponding actions”. Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, speaking to Bloomberg TV, said, “We have been saying all along in the last fortnight that we'll never initiate anything hostile towards India. But if we're attacked, we'll respond. If India backs down, we will definitely wrap up this tension.”