No Op Sindoor 3.0, finish the job
Whether Trump signs his deal or not, we all know an Ind-Pak clash is around the corner.
Let us start with a commonsensical review of Op Sindoor - 1.0. We all drooled over what our military accomplished, but the fact remains that Pakistan has now hyphenated itself with India, started an arms and satellite race, and readied itself to show off its Rocket Force Command for its upcoming Independence Day. It was a military win, technical victory politically, and a draw on the narrative front. It hasn't been deterred.
Now compare this with the post-Pulwama situation. Pakistan Military (not Imran, btw) stayed quiet even when we abrogated Article 370, and even when China nudged Pakistan to engage India on the west after Galwan. To be fair, it helped that Bajwa wasn't delusional like Munir, and Trump himself wasn't as helpful.
Imposing costs on an insurgent army.
As Christine Fair says, the Pakistan Military wins as long as it lives to fight another day. Unless something like 1971 happens, the brainwashed qaum can be sold Lahori Churan and made to believe anything. Blowing up terror camps and cratering a few runways doesn't impose enough cost when the military decides the national budget, and manages to get money from the IMF.
We need to impose a churan-proof cost where there are no face-savers or off-ramps. To use a Test cricket analogy, we have to amass a lead so huge that we don't have to bat again.
Managing a chronic problem
We have treated Pakistan like diabetes, a manageable problem that needed an occasional shot of insulin. That won't be the case during or after Op Sindoor 2.0
India bombed airbases after Pakistan fired a Fatah-II missile at Delhi, which was intercepted at Sirsa. Going by Munir's statements and the new creation of the Rocket Force, they will likely attempt more of the same and try to take the conflict deep inside India, something 90% of India hasn't ever seen.
By using Pakistan as a proxy, China finds a lifelong buyer for its products, distracts its biggest rival, and gives a battle demo of Chinese tech to the world. We know that Pakistan was happy to exchange the Gwadar port for a second-strike capability. Every man or machine facing west is one less resource facing east.
Finish the job
India's history of fighting Pakistan is a lot like the folklore of how Prithviraj Chauhan let go of Muhammad Ghori. From 1948 to 2025, we have ended each episode with the upper hand, only to squander it, let Pakistan regroup, and bleed India later. This has happened every decade and we have called it strategic restraint.
As Bharat Karnad wrote...
…And all because, as usual, the Indian leadership lacked the strategic sense and understanding to push for the military advantage staring them in the face! This has happened many times in the past, most egregiously, when Indira Gandhi terminated the 1982 operation…
It’s why Pakistan has been able to add satellites and submarines despite being on financial life support. It is stronger today than it was in May 2025.
So how do you do it?
The question is not whether India will win the next round. It is whether India will knock Pakistan out of the race, as Israel is now trying to do with Iran.
Pakistan is a case of Multiple-organ failure in slow motion. There are enough non-kinetic, covert means, economic dumping, capturing GI tags like basmati and even foreign policy moves that can achieve this.
In this context, our water infrastructure on Western rivers is our Brahmastra and Akshaypatra rolled into one, hiding in plain sight. The newly proposed Chenab-Beas link costs less than a single Rafale, but it has rattled Pakistan more than an entire squadron. I have written more about it here.
Our attitude towards Pakistan has moved from Aman ki Asha to Shatrubodh. What I hope is that Op Sindoor 2.0 doesn’t have a sequel.
Posted Jun 15, 2026, 12:57 PM UTC