Senior members of the Defence leadership on Thursday, May 7, after a year of Operation Sindoor, asserted that the cross-border strike on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) wasn’t “an end” but “just the beginning” of a sustained counter-terror operation.
The Indian military had started the operation on May 7, 2025, in response to the April 22 terror attack in which 26 people lost their lives in the town of Pahalgam. The strikes were co-ordinated and targeted terror camps and infrastructure being used by banned groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad in PoK and in Pakistan.
The mission was not to make “hungama” or chaos, the then-Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai told reporters at a press briefing in Rajasthan. Rather, the intent was to instill a “change” in the approach of the Indian response to terror.
“Sirf hungama khada karna mera maqsad nahi. Meri koshish hai ki yeh soorat badalni chahiye. India’s fight against cross-border terrorism will continue,” he added reiterating the country’s resolve against terrorism.
It has been termed as a watershed moment in the strategic doctrine of India, led by Lt Gen Ghai, Air Marshal AK Bharti and Vice Admiral AN Pramod of the three services. Officials pointed out that the operation was a paradigm change as India had gone beyond the conventional approach and had taken a proactive step of attacking terror infrastructure along the Line of Control and the International Border.
The army chief reaffirmed that the Indian security outfit was not taking a one-time action, but Operation Sindoor was being undertaken as part of its broader and continuous security posture.