Operation Sindoor Is ‘New Normal’ With Pakistan — ‘Goli Chalegi Toh Gola Chalega’
Operation Sindoor launched on May 7 targeting 9 terror sites inside PoJK & Pakistan will continue, but firings will stop and Indus Water Treaty will remain in abeyance as long as Pakistan backs terror
India has made it clear that Operation Sindoor, which was launched with the objective of eliminating terrorism in Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attacks, is not going to be concluded even as New Delhi has set a “new normal” with Islamabad, according to top government sources.
A day after the US declared that it has “brokered peace” between India and Pakistan, and that there will be dialogue taking place between the two neighbours at a “neutral site”, top-level government sources said India will only be willing to speak to Pakistan with respect to “return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”.
The sources quoted above also said that the Donald Trump administration got concerned over Operation Sindoor escalating, and the matter was raised during a phone-call between US Vice President JD Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 9 where the former spoke about taking matters “off ramp” as Washington feared “dramatic escalation” in violence on both sides.
India, the sources said, has told the US categorically that it will stop firing if Pakistan stops firing but “if they hit us, we will hit them”. They said while India was committed to not escalating the current tensions, it will continue to “hit Pakistan harder, bigger and deeper” if they attack India.
India has also said it will not call the current cessation of firings as “ceasefire” but just an “understanding” reached between the director generals of military operations (DGMOs) of the two nations.
The US, the sources said, had been trying to mediate a de-escalation between both sides right from the day the Pahalgam terror attack took place on April 22, when PM Modi was in Jeddah for a bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and PM Mohammed bin Salman.
While the discussions with the US were on, India decided to take the preliminary steps in terms of launching a diplomatic offence against Pakistan. As part of the diplomatic measures, India expelled the defence, naval and air advisors in the Pakistani High Commission. However, in a major and unprecedented step, it also decided to put the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 on hold.
India has made it clear to the US, and also to other countries, that IWT is “directly linked to cross-border terrorism”, and that it will be in suspension until Islamabad stops backing the terror network in that country.
‘Goli Chalegi Toh Gola Chalega’
The PM, the sources quoted above said, has told the US, including President Donald Trump, that “wahan se goli chalegi, toh yahan se gola chalega (if they shoot us with bullets, we will throw bombs at them).”
The sources also made it clear that there was neither direct talks between the national security advisors (NSA) of India and Pakistan, nor was there a conversation between the foreign ministers of both sides.
"New Delhi has made it clear to Pakistan that if talks are to happen it has to happen only and only between the two DGMOs and not in any other form. The decision to stop firings was taken only between the DGMOs. We made it clear that since they targeted our 26 places, we will plaster their eight air bases,” said a top government official.
India has also said going forward this will be the “new normal” with Pakistan: “If you hit us, we will hit you back. This is new India.”
The sources also said that unlike what happened after the 2001 Parliament attacks when US officials were allowed to do “shuttle diplomacy” between India and Pakistan, the government did not let that happen this time because Modi now considers the Pahalgam incident to be a point where the “red line” has been crossed wherein “any act of terrorism will be seen as an act of war”.
"We paid back Pakistan with interest,” a top official said, referring to all the terror attacks that Pakistan had been committing on Indian soil by supporting terrorists like Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).
The primary objective behind launching Operation Sindoor was “to hit Pakistan’s deep state” and that is the reason why India targeted the headquarters or the hub of JeM and HM located in Muridke, Bahawalpur, and Muzaffarabad.
Nayanima Basu is a senior independent journalist.
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