Operation Sindoor: Strategic Actions and Future Implications - A Report

Pahalgam, a tourist hub in the Anantnag district of South Kashmir, is the most significant among the two routes of the Amarnath Yatra. It can be considered as a symbol for a peaceful and economically lively valley. This makes it a prime target for terrorist groups as their intent is to disrupt normalcy and economic activities and revive militancy optics in Kashmir. The normalcy which was actively being brought into perspective post the abrogation of Article 370, couldn’t have been attacked from a better location.

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Baisaran Meadow was chosen as the spot of the attack for its favourable geography, too. The ‘mini-Switzerland’ is situated 5.5-6 km southeast of the Pahalgam town. To reach Baisaran, one needs to go through a serpentine trek route passing through streams, dense forests, and muddy stretches. Largely, this route is unmotorable, and the only means to travel is by pony, horse, or on foot.

It takes one hour to trek to Baisaran from Pahalgam. Deep gorges on all sides make this trek route the only accessible route. Even emergency responders would need 30-40 minutes to reach the spot. Lack of security presence in the area is also a strategic marker for the terror operatives to select this spot.

Pahalgam was mostly considered a secure and safe zone before the attacks in April 2025. Intelligence inputs, as said, did not indicate any immediate threats, and the particular region did not witness any terror activity for a considerable amount of time. Kashmir’s broader security environment, however, saw a peculiar change in strategies taken up by the terror outfits like The Resistance Front (TRF), wherein rather than targeting high-profile security targets or military infrastructures, soft civilians were made the target.

This shift showed a desperation and an attempt to regain relevance in the picture because of the decreasing trends of the terror activities, or stone pelting, since the abrogation of Article 370.

The assailants reached Baisaran on foot through dense pine forests of the southern side and utilised the absence of any surveillance. They carried assault rifles, and upon reaching, they segregated victims based on religion. Then they asked the non-Muslims to recite Islamic verses; failing to do so, Hindu men were executed at close range, and their wives and children were left alive to narrate this ordeal to the world.

This targeted, symbolic violence was done to create psychological rifts among the people based on religion, mirrors previous radical Islamist patterns and exploited gaps in area-specific security deployment.

Operation Sindoor has a well-thought-out operational blueprint with clear objectives to attain. These can be presented in three distinct time frames - immediate, medium, and long-term goals, all of which are guided by a strategic political-military intent.

The primary aim was to deliver a swift, decisive and precise retaliation against the terrorist outfits and infrastructures responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack. Indian forces on the night of 6th May 2025, targeted and took out nine terrorist facilities deep within Pakistani territory.

Beyond immediate retaliation, the operation sought to degrade the operational capabilities of terrorist organisations by systematically dismantling their infrastructure. Disruption of terrorist networks, reducing overall Infiltration, and Strengthening Border Security are some of the other medium-term goals for this operation. The intent was to send a clear message that India’s proportion of strikes will be decided by India only.

In the long term, Operation Sindoor aims to strategically establish a new paradigm of deterrence in the region. This paradigm puts up a strong message of decisive deterrence and doesn't stop at non-state actors only, in that endeavour.

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For all official and academic purposes, use the following as a citation, which follows the Chicago Manual Style.

Sapnil Biswas, Soham Rathore, and Vaibhav Singh

“Operation Sindoor: Strategic Actions and Future Implications”

THE GEOSTRATA, July 16, 2025.

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