In response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left several Indian civilians dead, India carried out what it described as a calibrated, strategic ounterstrike targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The operation, codenamed Operation Sindoor, was conducted in the early hours of May 7. Indian defence sources claim that the strikes mark a significant doctrinal and operational shift in New Delhi’s approach to cross-border terrorism.
India claimed to have destroyed nine key terror launchpads used by Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen. These camps, located across both PoK and mainland Pakistan, were said to serve as training and operational bases for attacks against India.
Unlike earlier limited-action cross-border strikes, this operation extended several hundred kilometres into Pakistan’s territory, including Punjab province. Indian jets reportedly hit sensitive locations like Bahawalpur-historically linked to terror infrastructure-signalling that India would no longer be constrained by the Line of Control (LoC) or internal Pakistani geography when responding to terrorism.
