India launched Operation Sindoor early Wednesday morning local time, targeting what the army calls “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have nukes. Both countries expanded their military abilities after a clash in 2019. (I detail the history of India-Pakistan, which includes three wars, at the bottom of this post.)
The Times of India printed the Defense Ministry’s statement:
The operations were precise, calculated and maintained a non-escalatory approach. We specifically avoided targeting any Pakistani military installations. India exercised significant restraint whilst choosing the targets and implementing the operation. These actions were undertaken following the brutal terrorist incident at Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 25 Indians and one Nepali national. We are fulfilling our pledge to ensure accountability for those behind this attack. The Ministry of Defence will provide comprehensive details about ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’ later in the day: Defence ministry
The Press Information Bureau stated:
“A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution. These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered. We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable. There will be detailed briefing on ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, later today.”
The Indian Embassy in DC disclosed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the national security team after the attack.
The embassy said, “India has credible leads, technical inputs on Pak-based terrorists’ involvement in Pahalgam attack.” I could not find more information on this one other than the quick update in The Times of India.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X: “The cunning enemy has carried out cowardly attacks on five locations in Pakistan. Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given. The entire nation stands with the Pakistani armed forces, and the morale and spirit of the entire Pakistani nation are high. The Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy. We will never allow the enemy to succeed in their nefarious goals.”
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will begin major air exercises near the Pakistan border on May 7 and end on May 15.
The Times of India reported that the army’s mission is to dismantle “terror networks in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).”
India has claimed Pakistan violated the ceasefire (more about the ceasefire below under the “history” section).
Indian police also announced that Pakistan’s shelling injured two women, one critically, in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan has insisted that India’s attack killed three people and injured 12 others.
Guys…in a time of war, take everything with a grain of salt.
Vijeta has chronicled the tensions between India and Pakistan for a long time. I hope he can pick up this story tomorrow since he has more knowledge on the subject.
On April 22, Indian security services began a manhunt after Islamic terrorists slaughtered 26 people in Pahalgam, located in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
The Pakistan-based Islamic terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which was also responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack, took responsibility for the massacre.
An Indian newspaper reported that the terrorists separated Muslims and non-Muslims, murdering those who could not recite a Quran verse.
India expelled Pakistani nationals, telling them to leave by April 29 and closed the main border crossing.
Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian carriers.
The armies have clashed along the border since the attack. It was only a matter of time.
The tension began in 1947 after the partition of British India when the area became India and Pakistan based on religious lines: Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India.
Jammu and Kashmir could pick which country to join. The leader of Kashmir wanted independence but asked to join India for protection against Pakistani herders.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars:
As of now, Kashmir includes the territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (India), Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan), and Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram (China).
The United Nations’ Line of Control divides the region between India and Pakistan.
That means India controls around half of the area. Pakistan controls a third of the region. China has the other part.
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