What does it mean to have a venomous snake in your backyard? That time and again, it will come and bite you. By its inherent nature, it is destined to kill you. The same is true for a state that came into existence as a result of India’s partition. There is a more apt term that describes it, and it is Terroristan or as the world officially knows it, Pakistan. Since the time it came into existence, one of its primary agenda has been to support, sponser, and promote terrorism and India has been a perpetual victim of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. 

This time, an unimaginable ghastly and cowardly discriminate attack was carried out by Pakistan sponsored terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22nd April in which 25 Indians and 1 Nepali Citizen were killed. It was a discriminate attack because the Hindus were specifically targeted and killed. Hindus were asked to recite Kalma which certainly they could not. They were killed in front of their wives and children. This shook the conscience of the whole nation.  

There was pain, anger, and at the same time a spirit of revenge developing in every Indian. There is a different way in how every government under different leaders reacts and the past speaks for itself. The Modi government has been known for its befitting responses to any such misdeeds or misadventures by the Pakistani side. It was certain that India would avenge the Pahalgam attack as it was not just an attack on 26 people but an attack on India’s sovereignty and honour of its people. And it speaks highly of any state to what extent it can go to protect its sovereignty and defend the rights and honour of its people. 

It was on 7th May that the Indian Armed Forces carried out ‘Operation Sindoor’ and successfully hit and destroyed 9 terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan in which more than 100 terrorists were eliminated. These terror base camps acted as an ideological and training base for planning, preparation, and commission of terror activities in India. Pakistan, by its far imagination, must not have imagined that India will hit this hard, in the heartland of terroristan. Why the name ‘Operation Sindoor’? Because Sindoor holds an immense significance in the life of married Hindu women. It is at the time of the marriage that the groom applies Sindoor in the parting of the bride’s hair. It not only symbolizes the marital status of a Hindu woman but also her union with her husband. In the attack, husbands were killed in front of their wives meaning their sindoor were wiped off by the terrorists. Nothing else could have better encapsulated the pain, anger, and revenge of Indians. Therefore, the name ‘Operation Sindoor’. It was meant to send a hard message to Terroristan that they do not ever dare to commit such an act or else the response would be beyond their imagination.

The dynamics or rules of warfare are ever changing. The actions by India between 7th May and 10th May marked the enunciation of the Modi doctrine. Although the beginning was marked in October 2016 when India carried out a Surgical Strike across the Line of Control. Later, in 2019 Balakot Airstrike was another instance which reflects the change in policy or an act part of Modi doctrine. This time the doctrine has been put into words. It marks a significant shift in India’s strategic approach to the fight against terrorism. Firstly, an act of terror against India will be treated as an act of war against India and the same will be responded to in an unimaginable way. Meaning thereby that there will be no distinction between the government of Pakistan and any act of terrorists and since the Pakistani government enables, supports, and finances terrorists, it will be made accountable. Secondly, there will be economic and diplomatic costs as PM Modi himself puts in that “Terror and talks cannot go together... Terror and trade cannot go together…water and blood cannot flow together”. Thirdly, India will not succumb to any nuclear blackmail by Pakistan. What it means is that India is prepared to foil any misadventures by Pakistan, be it nuclear threat. 

Operation Sindoor is an example of deterrence measures as part of the Modi doctrine. India is all for peace and humanity but if it comes at the cost of war against terrorism, India will be the first one to take decisive steps against terrorism.