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Friday, May 08, 2026

8: Operation Sindoor

Operation Sindoor: 21st century’s most successful military campaign and the shifting axis of global power Operation Sindoor stands as the most decisive and strategically successful military campaign of the 21st century. ......... In under four days, India conducted a military campaign so striking that it may have surprised some observers, despite the country being widely regarded as the fourth most powerful military in the world. Following the Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 civilians, India launched precision strikes against nine terrorist infrastructure sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) on 7 May 2025 without the element of surprise. ............. What followed became a masterclass in modern integrated air defence. Indian systems intercepted approximately 450 incoming projectiles over the next two days including ballistic missiles—a staggering figure that dwarfs interception tallies from any comparable modern conflict. It followed up with precision attacks on at least eight Pakistani military airbases across the country including Rahim Yar Khan, Noor Khan and Sargodha on 10 May 2025. The Chinese supplied air defence system of the Pakistanis seems to have completely collapsed resulting in Pakistan’s de facto surrender and request for a ceasefire. .............. India also confirmed downing six Pakistani Air Force aircraft, including what appears to be the largest surface-to-air missile engagement success ever recorded in military history. War and security analysts put that number to around 19. According to noted war historian Tom Cooper, six PAF aircraft were destroyed in air-to-air combat; the remaining were likely destroyed before they could take off! .......... Operation Sindoor also carries longer-term implications regarding the underperformance of Chinese-supplied air defense systems operated by Pakistan. Systems that had been marketed as peer competitors to Western and Russian alternatives failed to prevent Indian strikes from reaching their targets. ............ This was not an isolated data point. Subsequent reports from Venezuela and, more recently, from Iranian engagements have suggested similar patterns of underperformance. Defense procurement officials worldwide are now likely reconsidering contracts and strategic relationships built on assumptions that May 2025 called into serious question. For Beijing, this represents a significant setback—not merely in arms export revenue, but in the strategic influence that accompanies being a reliable defense partner. ............ From the very outset of the conflict—when India struck terrorist targets deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK)—sections of the international media started echoing Pakistani claims, often without evidence. When the fog cleared, much of this early reporting proved false or wildly exaggerated. .............. The initial media coverage was disproportionately focused on Pakistani claims of having shot down Indian jets—claims made without any substantiating evidence. Even if such losses occurred for argument’s sake (no proof provided by anyone as yet one year later), they were strategically irrelevant: on May 7, India successfully conducted airstrikes at nine separate locations across Pakistan and PoJK, despite Islamabad anticipating an attack. ..............

There may indeed have been aerial skirmishes between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), with potential aircraft losses on both sides. Yet this does not alter the strategic outcome. For context, during the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the victorious coalition lost 75 aircrafts—27 of them American.

.............. India has been the fourth most powerful military in the world for some time now. However, it was the scale of the strategic and tactical success and the clinical precision of Operation Sindoor that really shifted the geopolitical power dynamics. It is a clear indication that we now live in a multipolar world order where India is one of the pillars of this new matrix. .......... No other country in the 21st century has demonstrated this kind of military superiority in a conflict, not even America, as is evident from the current Middle East situation. And while Pakistan is a borderline failed state, its military cannot be considered a total pushover. Not to forget that it also has nuclear weapons and does indulge in nuclear blackmail from time to time

(Madeleine Albright called Pakistan the migraine of the world).

This makes the success of Operation Sindoor even more significant. .........

India demonstrated the ability to conduct precision strikes, maintain air superiority, and defend its airspace against sustained attack—simultaneously. This is a capability set that places it in a very small club of nations.

................... Nations that once looked exclusively toward Washington or Moscow for security guarantees are now examining New Delhi with fresh eyes. ................ it was perhaps among the biggest mistakes of his second term to underestimate the global heft and stature of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the third time elect PM of the world’s largest democracy and the oldest surviving civilisational state President Trump may have damaged the most consequential bilateral relationship of the 21st century for America. ............ A multipolar world is not merely a theoretical possibility; it is the emerging reality. The defence industry faces a reckoning over whose systems actually work under combat conditions. Western media institutions face questions about their reliability as sources of information during crises. And the assumption that democracies naturally align against authoritarian pressure has been complicated by the spectacle of Washington pleading a democracy to betray the truth. ............. Operation Sindoor lasted 88 hours. Its consequences will perhaps shape this century.

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