Operation Sindoor has changed the perception of India permanently, and it will not be the same again as it used to be since its independence. The clash in Galwan Valley was the beginning of this change in stance when it took its formidable enemy China head-on.
The whole world was taken a back by its grit, determination and resilience, as well as its economic capability to bear the cost of this long, painful and squeezing stand-off.
Operation Sindoor was a logical step ahead when it held Pakistan guilty of the Pahalgam massacre and, instead of preparing a dossier and taking it to international fora, it acted alone — that too, after giving a forewarning that the perpetrators of this crime would not only be adequately punished but also be given a hard lesson not to be easily forgotten.
India could take such a punitive action against terror and Pakistan because it accepted Pakistan-sponsored terror architecture as an extension of the Pakistan Army and the Pakistani nation.
Secondly, it decided to take on the nuclear bluff of Pakistan, which was well supported by America and the West. It was a proactive action against terror. The terror architecture operating from Pakistan was devastated, and when the Pakistani Air Force tried to retaliate, it was completely neutralised, and several Pakistani airbases were attacked and made inoperative.
Pakistan was left with no option but to desperately seek ceasefire, which was arrived at when the DGMO of Pakistan requested it from the DGMO of India. It was a ceasefire without a proper declaration of war.
India agreed to it because it achieved its stated objective of dismantling terror architecture in Pakistan with a stern message that it would have to bear a huge cost for sponsoring terrorism.
India never wanted a full-fledged war and told Pakistan not to escalate, as the only Indian objective was to punish terrorists and dismantle their hideouts and training camps. It also taught Pakistan a lesson — that India could attack them and punish them without impunity, as and when the situation demanded.
It was a message to America and the West that India is capable of acting on its own and punishing its enemy without caring for world opinion.
India has arrived on the global stage as a big-league nation which is capable of striking its enemy at will. America and the West could not save Pakistan from this ignominy because all our communication architecture and air defence surveillance systems were either indigenous or Russian. Our indigenous technology and missile system outsmarted the Pakistani defence and surveillance system, which were largely Chinese and American. This exploded the myth of the impregnability of these systems, and it will have larger ramifications on the international weapons market. The growing demand for India-made weapons and other defence equipment is a testimony to it. Operation Sindoor is a declaration of India’s capability and will to act. This is a paradigm shift in our foreign policy.
This has its consequences. America and the West will not accept India’s right to defend itself the way they do. They will do their best to support Pakistan and keep it functional as a bulwark against India’s march to power and self-reliance.
They will also do everything to play down your strong leadership. These are costs of breaking the glass ceiling. India is in an era of its own transition, and as you move up the ladder, your isolation is more pronounced than before.
The global sympathy is for those which are tools in the hands of global masters. It is for those which are weak and defeated. India has to tread its path more cautiously and resolutely than before. It will have to work hard — and that too silently — to achieve its goal.
(The writer is an eminent academic and political commentator)