Pakistan, a year after Operation Sindoor

These diplomatic-cum-military measures were far weightier than those taken after previous terrorist outrages, such as the attack on Parliament in December 2001 or the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008. Therefore, how should we evaluate the effectiveness of the steps taken after the Pahalgam attack?

The message sent to Pakistan was twofold. The first is that a strong military response will follow terrorist transgressions and apprehensions of a possible escalation won’t be a restraining factor. Second, that no aspect of India-Pakistan relations would be ringfenced from an adversarial dynamic: The Indus Waters Treaty that had been insulated from the vagaries of the relationship even during conditions of war, was placed in abeyance to underscore this very point.

Has the most recalcitrant of India’s neighbours registered these messages? In the past, a linear trajectory could be traced between Operation Parakaram (the military mobilisation undertaken after the Parliament attack of 2001) and General Pervez Musharraf’s commitment that Pakistan would not allow its territory to be used for terrorist activities against India.