Op Sindoor: Importance of Clearly Defined Political Objective

As war is politics by other means, a clearly defined political objective is important for achieving military victory.

The objective for Operation Sindoor was defined in the very first few days of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The objective was clearly stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 24.

Speaking at the National Panchayati Raj Day program and launch of development works in Madhubani, Bihar, the Prime Minister said, “I want to say in very clear words, those terrorists who have carried out this attack and those who conspired for this attack will get a punishment bigger than they could have ever imagined. Now the time has come to destroy the remaining ground of the terrorists. The will power of 140 crore Indians will now break the back of the masters of terror”.  “Today, from the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world: India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist, and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism. Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to ensure that justice is done” PM Modi added. 

He repeated the same a few days later. “I once again assure the affected families that they will get justice, and justice will be done. The perpetrators and conspirators of this attack will be served with the harshest response,” 121st Episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’ on  27.04.2025.

Raksha Mantri [Defence Minister] Shri Rajnath Singh had separately reaffirmed that,  “Not just those who perpetrated the attack, but even those who conspired from behind the scenes to commit such nefarious acts on the Indian soil will soon get an appropriate response”. He was delivering  a memorial lecture on the Marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Arjan Singh in New Delhi on April 23, 2025, just a day after the attack.

It would be amply clear that the objective though limited in nature was achievable in military terms. This also defined that escalation to target the Pakistan military or other strategic objectives was not a political aim.

The press briefing held by the Operations Chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy on May 10 also clearly outlined that this was the aim given to them by the national leadership and they worked on the same to achieve it on the first night of the operation that is night of May 06/07.

There is a possibility of some terms of reference that would have been given to the military from the national leadership.

A review of various statements and press briefings would indicate that targeting even in Pakistan should avoid civilian casualties and limit escalation or possibly ensure proportionality. Even in the escalatory, cycle, civilian targeting was still a taboo as is perceived from published evidence from credible sources.

The onus for escalation thus was on Pakistan.

A conflict or war is a fluid medium where two sides are engaged in a deadly combat and thus the military has to derive likely reaction from Pakistan beyond the first night of operations.

That the Indian armed forces were ready for Pak military reaction was evident with the complete neutralization of Pakistan’s drone and missile offensive on the night of May 07/08 which included both military and civilian targets all along the Western border from Ladakh to Rajasthan.

Operations launched by the Indian Air Force because of the same and follow up on May 08 and beyond were proportionate to target critical military establishments on the Pakistan side such as the strategic airfields.

On the Line of Control as well, the indiscriminate firing by Pakistan causing civilian deaths was limited by the Indian Army to bunkers and command posts on in POJK.

While sufficient information of political objective of Pakistan is not available or even whether the national government could dictate one to their military, but overcoming the humiliation of attacks in the heart of Punjab – Bhawalpur and Lahore would be certainly one of these.

The response was thus indiscriminate and it is believed that there were no red lines set for the Pakistan Army by the weak Sharif government the hand maiden of the military.

Once more information is available, the aims and objectives of Pakistan will be further analysed.