New Delhi [India], May 14: Operation Sindoor, India’s recent cross-border military offensive targeting nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), has been hailed as a “decisive victory” and a paradigm shift in anti-terror strategy by John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute and Executive Director of the Urban Warfare Institute.
https://twitter.com/SpencerGuard/status/1922492442512949450
In a detailed article posted on X titled “Operation Sindoor: A Decisive Victory in Modern Warfare”, Spencer lauded the operation as a turning point in India’s security doctrine, declaring that the mission had “exceeded its strategic aims.” Though hostilities have paused, Spencer emphasized that the operation is “not completely over.”
Key Points from Spencer’s Analysis:
- The May 7 strikes neutralized key terror infrastructure, notably in Bahawalpur and Muridke, along with damaging 11 Pakistani military airbases.
- Unlike past responses, India did not appeal to international mediators or issue diplomatic protests, but directly deployed warplanes.
- Spencer noted the strikes demonstrated India’s resolve to treat terror attacks launched from Pakistani soil as acts of war.
- He highlighted PM Narendra Modi’s doctrine, emphasizing: “India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail… Terror and talks can’t go together. Water and blood can’t flow together.”
Spencer stressed the strikes were not symbolic gestures but “doctrinal executions under live fire,” reinforcing India’s strategic independence and establishing a new red line in counterterrorism: immediate and decisive retaliation.
“India was not fighting for vengeance. It was fighting for deterrence. And it worked,” Spencer wrote.
“India’s restraint is not weakness—it is maturity. It imposed costs, redefined thresholds, and retained escalation dominance.”
In contrast to the post-2008 era, Spencer highlighted that modern India is proactive, “hitting back immediately, precisely, and with clarity.” He praised the operation as a model for limited, goal-driven warfare in a nuclear context—a rare feat in global military strategy.
He concluded by emphasizing that Operation Sindoor demonstrates a military prepared not for past wars, but for future conflicts, with clarity, confidence, and strategic dominance.
“The halt in operations is not the end. India holds the initiative. If provoked again, it will strike again.”