One year of Operation Sindoor: How India crippled terror to avenge Pahalgam killings

In the year since Operation Sindoor, India contracted roughly ₹30,000 crore worth of drones and counter-drone systems; preparations were underway for a Letter of Request to Dassault for 114 Rafale fighters under Make in India; Israel’s PULS rocket artillery system (300 km range) was acquired; loitering munitions such as Warmate 400 were inducted; air-defense and strike capabilities were expanded with Barak systems, and longer-range variants of BrahMos were being explored.

Pakistan continued firing through the night on May 10, using drones, artillery and cross-border shelling against targets in Jammu and Rajasthan, despite India’s ceasefire acceptance.

Islamabad rushed to tell Washington that India had agreed to the ceasefire, and President Trump tweeted the news and claimed credit.

Jaishankar instructed Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to inform the Army and other agencies of the ceasefire; the Army briefing reportedly took about two hours to complete before formal communications.

Pakistan’s DGMO called India’s DGMO at about 3:35 pm to propose a ceasefire, after it became evident that India had achieved its limited war aims; India accepted the ceasefire.

By noon, BrahMos had fired 11 times, hitting a string of air bases including Jacobabad and Bhanoti/Bhunari. 11 Pakistani air bases were significantly damaged, with aircraft and other aerial platforms destroyed on the ground and at least six to seven Pakistani planes lost. S-400 air-defence systems were brought into play.

Around 1:30 am, India launched the first volley of BrahMos missiles at the Chaklala/Noor Khan air base in Rawalpindi, crippling the command-and-control network and leaving Pakistan’s northern air force effectively blind.

U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance phoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi warning of major Pakistani retaliation; Modi reportedly responded that India would answer a bullet with a bomb.

The same night, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Muridke headquarters was hit using SCALP and Israeli Crystal Maze missiles, while other terror camps were targeted with loitering munitions — including Warmate, PALM 200/400, Harop and Harpy.

India opened its account with a BrahMos cruise missile strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters at Bahawalpur, paired with a French SCALP air-launched cruise missile. The BrahMos was fired from a Su-30MKI, while the SCALP came off a Rafale; both strikes remained within Indian airspace as stand-off blows.

Terrorists backed by Pakistan killed 26 people at the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam; the attack is described as the trigger for Operation Sindoor, prompting long-range strikes into Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.