India defines new doctrine against terrorism: A stern message to Pakistan
S D Pradhan has served as chairman of India's Joint Intelligence Committee. He has also been the country's deputy national security adviser. He was chairman of the Task Force on Intelligence Mechanism (2008-2010), which was constituted to review the functioning of the intelligence agencies. He has taught at the departments of defence studies and history at the Punjabi University, Patiala. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Illinois, US, in the department of arms control and disarmament studies. The ministry of defence had utilized his services for the preparation of official accounts of the 1971 war and the counterinsurgency operations in the northeast. In the JIC/National Security Council secretariat, he was closely involved with the preparation of the reports of the Kargil Review Committee and the Group of Ministers on national security as also with the implementation of their recommendations. His publications include two books and several articles. LESS ... MORE
PM Modi, in a speech on the 12th May, unveiled a new doctrine to deal with terrorists and their sponsors in future. In a strong message to the Pakistani establishment, he pointed out that several big terrorist attacks like 9/11, the London Tube bombing and major attacks in India in the past decades had links with the terrorist hide-outs in Pakistan, destroyed by India during the Operation Sindoor.
He averred that bases in Bahawalpur and Muridke were universities of global terrorism. This was a necessity as the Pahalgam attack was a calculated move to achieve a demographic change in J&K and integrate it with Pakistan. Crucially, this was also confirmed by a Pakistani ex-army officer, Adil Raja, who revealed that not only Munir did order the attack but also had the nod from China.
PM Modi announced a decisive shift in India's strategic approach against terrorism. There are three important dimensions of the new doctrine. First, if there is any terrorist attack on India, a strong and resolute response will be given on India's terms: it is 'the new benchmark and set up a new parameter and new normal.' This envisages strong actions at every place where roots of terrorism emerge. In a significant toughening of its counter-terrorism doctrine, India declared that any act of terrorism will be treated as an act of war and responded accordingly. Under international law, an 'act of war' implies a hostile action by one state that could justify retaliatory use of force. India's new stance signals a readiness to invoke self-defence provisions under Article 51 of the UN Charter. The UNSC on the 25th April 2025, in its press briefing, underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.
Second, India will not tolerate nuclear blackmail. India will strike precisely and decisively at the hideouts developing and operating under the cover of nuclear blackmail. This was also essential, as the Pak Establishment was using the nuclear card every time any crisis emerged to ensure the involvement of other powers to pressurise India to stop taking any action against Pakistan. India has decided to call out Pakistan's bluff.
Third, there will not be any difference between government-sponsored terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism. This was a clear message to the Pak Army, which is nurturing terrorists, imparting training, and providing wherewithal to carry out terrorist attacks. There will be no difference between the operatives and their supporters and sponsors while penalising them for the mischief.
This is important in the context of the Pak Army. On 11th May, the Director General Inter-Services Public Relations, Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif, declared support for jihad, indicating clearly that there is no difference between the uniformed personnel and non-uniformed cadres of Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM), and Al Badr etc. which have been waging a war against India for several decades. He declared that 'Islam is part of not only our belief but part of our training.' He was justifying why the Pak Army's operation was named 'Bunyanum Marsoos' meaning that the Pak Army's actions were guided by the path shown by Allah. He further stated that the Pak Army Chief has a strong belief in it, who was trained in a madrasa. Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif is the son of Mahmood Sultan Bashiruddin, the rogue nuclear scientist of Pakistan who tried to give details of a nuclear bomb to Osama bin Laden and had formed Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN) for this purpose.
The Operation Sindoor exposed the close nexus between the Pak Army and terrorists. Pakistan, taking the side of terrorists, decided to launch attacks on our military and civil assets. The funerals of terrorists were attended by senior Pakistani Army and police officers. Wreaths were sent by the President and the COAS. This brings to an important issue the nature of Pakistan. Earlier, it was said that Pakistan's case is different from any other country in the world: it is the case of the Pak Army having a nation. Now it can be said that it is the case of terrorists having a nation with an army at their disposal.
The sustenance of the understanding of the ceasefire depends upon four factors. First, Pakistan should act against the remaining terrorists and ensure that no terrorist attack on India takes place. However, this is doubtful. Second, Pakistan's record of adhering to its promises is very poor. It indulged in duplicity. After the Tashkent Declaration, it launched a war. After the Simla agreement, it began to use terrorism against India. In 1999, it occupied Kargil heights. After that, it tasked its terrorists to hijack IC 814. Then its terrorists attacked India several times: 2001 Parliament, 26/11 Mumbai, 2016 Uri, 2016 Pulwama and 2025 Pahalgam attacks. The list is very long. Third, China supports Pakistan and that can encourage Pakistan to continue its game plan of dealing with India through a thousand cuts. Fourth, Pakistan is indulging in a disinformation campaign. This can vitiate the environment.
India is going ahead with non-kinetic measures to press Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism. India has averred that terror, and talks cannot go together and water and blood cannot flow together. India has made it clear that if there are talks with Pakistan, it will be only on terrorism and PoK. India is opposed to any third-party mediation.
The international community needs to understand Pakistan's deep links with terrorists and its policy of using terrorism as a state instrument to deal with India. Pakistan must be pressured to verifiably dismantle all the terrorist structures. The international community should also understand that it plays the nuclear card only to get India pressurised. India, as a responsible nation, has never threatened to use nuclear weapons. India did not attack any Pakistani nuclear site; it only destroyed their capabilities to use air bases. The international community should understand the reality, rather than being influenced by the Pakistani disinformation campaign and start hyphenating India and Pakistan. They are different: one is a sponsor of terrorism and the other is a victim.
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