India sent a message with Op Sindoor, change in its strategic doctrine will change entire region: Warfare expert John Spencer

India Gazette

12-07-2025

New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): Operation Sindoor showcased India's capability and the will to strike with precision and restraint and a change in India's strategic doctrine will change the entire region, John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at New York-based Modern War Institute, has said.
In a video interview with ANI, Spencer, a scholar, author, combat veteran, and security analyst, noted that India demonstrated its willingness to take necessary actions in Operation Sindoor, should Pakistan continue to escalate the conflict.
He said the Operation Sindoor was also a demonstration of India's proactive, precision-oriented doctrine.
Asked about India's national security doctrine reshaping in the wake of Operation Sindoor, Spencer said, 'Absolutely. And it's still evolving.'
'...As we talk in military terms, I've read lines and things, and clearly India demonstrated that with action. But the words matter, the cultural aspects, so it's understood. That's why it was important to talk to active military, former military, think tanks, media. I can absolutely clearly see a change in India's strategic doctrine that will really change the entire region in my opinion,' he said.
India launched Operation Sindoor early on May 7 and hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK in response to Pahalgam terror attack. India repelled subsequent Pakistani military aggression and pounded its airbases.
India and Pakistan agreed to cessation of hostilities after four-day conflict following call made by Pakistan DGMO to his Indian counterpart.
Calling Operation Sindoor a 'unique strike,' Spencer said it showcased India's strategic independence and leadership.
He said many countries, including the United States, wanted the escalation to stop.
'The (US) Vice President's comments, and again, understanding the American changes in foreign policy. As Operation Sindoor was escalated by Pakistan, of course, many countries, to include the United States, wanted to see that escalation stop because of how catastrophic it could be. But every strike, to include Noor Khan, Muridke, others, that India sent a message with each one of those... As a military guy, I can say that the spot was hit to send a message about capability, as much as it was for the actual evidence of destruction,' he said.
Spencer, an internationally renowned expert on urban warfare, military strategy and other related topics, said India demonstrated a capability to hit whatever it wanted.
'Demonstrated that one, it can do it; two, it has the will to do it, but also it was restrained and even all the places they hit, the amount of destruction and precision guided munitions that they used was a sign, a signal, rather than a destructive act. Because people think that war is about destroying everything. War is a contest of will. India was demonstrating will to do what's necessary if Pakistan wanted to continue to escalate. And that's strategic independence and strategic, basically, leadership. The United States, of course, was concerned, I'm sure, again, about not wanting something to escalate beyond what it was.'
India's national security architecture demonstrated the strength of jointness and strategic foresight through Operation Sindoor. The response to Pahalgam terror attack t embodied precision, professionalism, and purpose. Operation SINDOOR was conceived as a punitive and targeted campaign to dismantle the terror infrastructure across the Line of Control and deeper inside Pakistan. (ANI)