From ‘zero tolerance' to an ‘act of war': India's war on terror gets a new definition

First Post

13-05-2025

An uneasy calm prevails between India and Pakistan as the guns have fallen silent and the fighter aircraft are back in their bases. Based on an urgent request from Pakistan, the ceasefire, which India agreed to, came into force at 5.00 pm on May 10. It, however, became fully effective only around 10.00 pm, after Pakistani forces tried another feeble attempt at misadventure in the air in the evening, but were promptly repulsed. India has warned Pakistan against any misadventure and has put a new price on any future act of cross-border terror from Pakistan: ' An Act of War '.
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While Pakistan reels under the shock of blows inflicted on it through the blitzkrieg launched by Indian armed forces over three days, it will be quite some time before it can fully count its losses and recover from it, both physically and psychologically. What has happened in the midst of all this is the fact that the cost and caution that was imposed upon Pakistan after the Balakot airstrike by India in February 2019 has been significantly raised, to a scale where it would be near suicidal for Pakistan to think of another terror attack in the future.
How did it come about?
All this may not have happened had a financially bankrupt and militarily shaky Pakistan not tried to do what it had mastered in the last three decades in its proxy war against India- launch a terror attack in Kashmir to divert the attention of the public in Pakistan as well as the international community towards Kashmir. Going exactly by this playbook, Pakistani-backed terrorists launched a deadly terror strike on April 22, killing 26 innocent tourists in a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The anger and outrage in the country were magnified many times over as the victims (all men) were specifically identified by their religion (Hindu), and the men were shot dead in front of their women.
Pakistan had banked on three factors while launching this terror attack. First, the manner of killing (men, non-Hindu) would trigger communal clashes in Kashmir and elsewhere in India. Second, the economic development and progress happening in Kashmir would come to a halt, with security once again taking over as the primary focus in Kashmir. Third, India, at best, would retaliate and carry out a Balakot-kind of strike into Pakistan.
Pakistan was in for a huge shock this time. Instead of clashes, the whole nation came together. India's response began with diplomatic and economic measures, as early as April 23, the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) being held in abeyance being the biggest shock. The IWT, signed in 1960, is an instrument through which Pakistan has been able to get more than its justifiable share of water through the treaty which governs the water sharing of six rivers, Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas, that start from India and drain into the Arabian Sea through Pakistan. It had never been addressed in any of the previous wars, 1965, 1971 or the Kargil War of 1999. With the Kharif crop due to be sown from mid-May onwards, India's decision struck Pakistan where it hurts the most- its agricultural economy of Punjab.
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There was unease and debates as the nation waited for revenge. The wait was not long as Indian armed forces launched 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7. The precision strikes across nine locations, all known terror infrastructure, were an absolute shock for Pakistan. The fact that the missile strikes were delivered almost simultaneously over a frontage of hundreds of kilometers stretching from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) to Bahawalpur in Punjab, and none of them were intercepted by Pakistan's air defense, added to the shock and awe. Also, the fact that four of the target locations were in Pakistan across the international border and included the Headquarters of terror groups like JeM (Bahawalpur) and LeT (Muridke) was unimaginable for the Pakistani military.
Its response was hasty and it hurled swarms of drones and missiles at India which were thwarted by an effective, multilayered, and integrated air defence. Over three nights, Pakistan tried its best but achieved little. Despite India's clear indication that it had targeted only terror infrastructure on May 7 and has no intention of hurting any civilian or military infrastructure, Pakistan made valiant attempts to target civilian and military infrastructure in India, including a reported effort to target Delhi through a ballistic missile.
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Exercising its right to respond and teach a befitting lesson, Indian armed forces once again did the unthinkable, targeting 11 military airfields and bases in precision strikes synchronised in time and space, severely crippling the air power capability of Pakistan on May 9. The strike at the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi was not only a strike at the heart of Pakistan's military but also very near to its critical nuclear weapon establishments. Having been crippled and devastated, Pakistan's DG of Military Operations was soon on the phone, requesting for a ceasefire on the afternoon of 10th May.
Evolution of India's war on terror
India's war against terror did not always have such punitive dimensions. Its fight against terror dates back to the early 1990s when Pakistan under its President Gen Zia-ul-Haq had launched this low-cost war option to keep India bleeding. And bleed we did, for over two decades when terror incidents inflicted injury and insult to India not only in Kashmir but also in the rest of India. While it is not possible to recount all of them in a single piece, some key ones could be discussed to understand the evolution.
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The first and most important landmark has to be the incident of hijacking of Air India's flight IC-814 on 24th December 1999, just a few months after the Kargil war. In one of India's weak moments and still evolving strategy against terror, India agreed to release dreaded terrorists like Ahmed Omar Sheikh and Masood Azhar, in exchange for over 160 civilian hostages. Masood Azhar, as is well known, then went ahead and founded the terror group JeM, which has been responsible for many major terror attacks against India thereafter.
The terror attack on the Indian Parliament on 13th December 2001 has to be the next major landmark. Launched by five terrorists of JeM, it led to a year-long mobilization of Indian armed forces under 'Operation Parakaram'. Still, it didn't result in any direct punishment to Pakistan for it. Contrary to it, it imposed huge economic costs on India owing to the prolonged deployment of forces as also a number of military and civilian casualties during the mobilization due to minefields and other accidents.
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The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was a milestone in many ways. It was widely considered as India's 9/11 moment and it brought global attention to India's war against terror. However, once again, it did not lead to any punishment to Pakistan or the terror group LeT, despite clear evidence of the operation being master-minded and controlled from Pakistan. In a sense therefore, till then, there was no clear policy against terror except to gather evidence, prepare folders and put forth in front of the world and Pakistan, seeking action against the perpetrators.
It was the Uri terror attack on September 18, 2016, by a group of JeM terrorists on an army camp that the strategy of fight against terror actually started taking shape. Enraged by the terror attack, the Modi government in Delhi decided that enough was enough and that Pakistan as well as the terror groups need to be repaid in kind. The surgical strikes thereafter were not only a strong reply but a statement of intent.
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While Uri signaled a shift in India's strategy of fight against terror, the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir on February 14, 2019, took the fight against terror to another level. In response to the terror attack, India Air Force launched a synchronised attack on a known terror camp of JeM in Balakot on February 26. This attack broke many glass ceilings as this was the first time that the Indian Air Force had intruded into Pakistani airspace to launch a strike. This was also marked by India calling the nuclear bluff of Pakistan, which it had always threatened, trying to put caution in the Indian leadership against taking any direct action inside Pakistan. Remember Operation Parakram in 2001-02?
The Pahalgam terror attack now has broken many more glass ceilings and has set a new threshold in India's war against terror. By striking key terror locations as well as key military assets deep into Pakistan, India has given a clear signal that the era of restraint and patience is over and that Pakistan will have to pay a direct and heavy price for any terror attack in the future.
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By launching such a massive military operation in such a short time, India has also made it clear that any future actions will be determined by the requirements of its national security only, irrespective of how the world thinks about it and the restraint that that world seeks from India. The declaration that any future act of terror will be taken as an act of war too imposes huge costs on Pakistan, going forward.
Going forward
The 'Operation Sindoor' launched by the Indian armed forces is not only an act to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack but also a statement of intent. It is also a demonstration of India's military prowess and the massive gap between the military capability of India and Pakistan, where India could strike at will deep inside Pakistan, but all that Pakistan fired was intercepted by India's air defence.
By targeting air bases, India has sent out a clear and loud signal; the Pakistani nuclear weapon boggy is no longer a restraining factor and that Indian forces can take out nuclear weapons sites in Pakistan too, if required.
Most importantly, India has scaled up its fight against terror to a level like never before. A strategy that started with 'inaction and helplessness' almost 25 years back has now evolved into a bold strategy where the terrorists and their backers are assured of an unimaginable punishment, and there is no place for them to hide. A new, bold, and confident India is all set to bury the threat of terror effectively, forever.
Col Rajeev Agarwal is a West Asia expert and a Senior Research Consultant at Chintan Research Foundation, New Delhi. His X Handle is @rajeev1421. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.