Operation Sindoor: Why India succeeds as democracy and Pakistan falters as garrison state

The Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor did not just establish India’s military superiority over Pakistan but also brought to fore the differences between the two countries: while India has succeeded as a democracy, Pakistan has faltered as a garrison state that sponsors terrorism as a state policy.

After the Pahalgam attack, India set in motion a plan to corner Pakistan diplomatically, punish terrorists and their backers militarily, and impose long-term costs, such as the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty . On the other hand, even as much of the world condemned the attack and called out terrorism, Pakistan launched a disinformation campaign to pass off the Pahalgam attack as a false-flag operation.

Shortly after the massacre at Pahalgam, Pakistan started operating as per its plan. It broke the yearslong ceasefire to mount cross-border attacks, vacated terrorist launchpads along the Line of Control (LoC), and started deploying troops and heavy equipment to forward areas.

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With the Pahalgam attack as a bait, Pakistan wanted to drag India into a full-scale war. But India did not take the bait. Instead, with Operation Sindoor, India struck terrorist sites in Pakistan, hammered its military, avoided the trap of war, and called out the country’s nuclear bluff.

Terror sponsor versus a democracy fighting back

With Operation Sindoor, India struck nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) on the intervening night of May 6-7. On May 7, Pakistan mounted unsuccessful aerial attacks across northern and western India. As a result, India struck Pakistan air defence sites on May 8.

As Pakistani military targeted dozens of locations in India, including the holy city of Amritsar and gurdwara in J&K's Poonch , the Pakistani public rallied around the military that sponsors terrorists. In India, the government elected by the people rallied around the flag as the Indian government —a democratic government chosen by the people— organised the nation’s defences against a barrage of missiles and drones and responded with force.

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The difference was clear: while India struck terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam attack and many others, Pakistan attacked India on behalf of those terrorists; while the Indian society rallied around the flag for the defence of the nation, the Pakistani society rallied around the Pakistani military that was attacking India on behalf of terrorists.

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In India, the success or the failure of Operation Sindoor would rest with the Executive headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Pakistan, it is an open secret that the real power rests with Pakistani Army chief Field Marshal (then General) Asim Munir. Modi is accountable to the people and has come to office after elections — three times. Munir, on the other hand, is an unelected armyman who has no diplomatic mandate — except for the support he has drawn from Pakistan’s public in the name of jihad by attacking India.

As Firstpost has previously reported, one of the reasons for the Pahalgam attack was to restore the military’s primacy in the country and bring Islamism to an even more central place in the Pakistani society. On the other hand, India’s rationale for Operation Sindoor was simple: punish the terrorists and their backers and impose costs to minimise the frequency of such attacks.

As India calls out terror, Pakistan appeases jihadists

At a time when India is witnessing bipartisan opposition to terrorism, Pakistan has continued to honour terrorists and appease fellow state sponsors of terrorists.

In the clearest sign of the state sponsorship of terrorism, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army chief Munir attended funerals of those killed in Indian airstrikes on terrorist sites in Pakistan and POJK.

Moreover, a US-sanctioned terrorist leader, Hafiz Abdul Rauf, led funeral prayers for terrorists killed in Indian airstrikes. The funeral was attended by top military and civilian officials: Lt Gen Fayyaz Hussain Shah, the 4 Corps Commander; Maj Gen Rao Imran Sartaj, the General Officer Commanding 11 Infantry Division; Brigadier Mohd Furqan Shabbir, the Commander 15 Mechanised Brigade; Usman Anwar, the Inspector General of Police for Punjab; and Malik Sohaib Ahmed Bherth, a Member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab.

While India has deployed bipartisan delegations of members of parliament to brief several countries about the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has been busy appeasing Turkey that supported it in the conflict with India.

At a time when Indian parliamentary delegations are touring various capitals, Shehbaz went to Turkey with Munir to thank Turkey for providing weapons to attack India. Manoj Gupta of CNN-News 18 has reported sources as saying that the aim of Shehbaz and Munir’s visit is to consolidate Turkey-Pakistan collaboration against Indian interests following Operation Sindoor.