New Delhi: Operation Sindoor, the Indian military’s most expansive and multi-domain combat mission in half-a-century against Pakistan, redefined India’s overarching security and strategic goals in 2025, making it a watershed year for the defence establishment.
India launched a series of “precision missile strikes on nine terror camps” in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 07 “eliminating at least 100 terrorists in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 innocent civilians”.
New Delhi’s action was largely seen as a statement of its “political will” to inflict a blow to Pakistan “for supporting terrorism” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail by Islamabad.
The Indian strikes at the “terror camps included the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) headquarters at Bahawalpur, the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base at Muridke, and terrorist infrastructure in Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot, Sawai Nala and Syed Na Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abbas in Kotli, Barnala in Bhimber, and Sarjal.”
After the strikes at the terror infrastructure, India informed Pakistan that “it does not want to escalate the situation and its operation was aimed at terrorist bases.”
But as Pakistan launched a military retaliation, India responded to it using an array of weapons and military platforms including the Integrated Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Grid, S-400 Triumph missile systems, Barak-8 missiles, Akash Surface-to-Air Missiles.
“The Indian military inflicted heavy damages to a number of key Pakistani military installations including hangars in three locations, radars in at least four places, command and control centres in two sites and runways in two air bases.”
The military campaign broadly highlighted the synergy among the three services and showcased the dawn of the new age warfare that featured drones and counter-drone systems.
The hostilities ended with an understanding on halting the military actions on May 10 following talks over the hotline between army officials of the two sides, but the episode redefined India’s “new normal” to counter cross-border terrorism.
The daring military campaign strikes by India on Pakistan was the most significant operation since the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
As part of “dissuasive and deterrent” posture, the Indian Navy’s carrier battle group, submarines and aviation assets were immediately deployed at sea with full combat readiness in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
“We have just suspended our retaliatory action against Pakistan’s terror and military camps. In the coming days we will measure every step of Pakistan on the criterion that what sort of attitude Pakistan will adopt ahead,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on May 12.
Elaborating on India’s new approach to combat terrorism, the prime minister asserted that it will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail and that New Delhi will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism.
“If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to destroy its terror infrastructure. There is no other way to peace. India’s stand is very clear,” Modi said.
Operation Sindoor was seen as significant as it “demonstrated India’s military and strategic power, executed through a combination of military and non-military means”.
This multi-dimensional operation “effectively neutralised terrorist threats, deterred Pakistani aggression, and firmly enforced India’s zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism,” according to an analysis by the defence ministry.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on October 03 said “at least a dozen Pakistani military aircraft including US-origin F-16 jets were destroyed or damaged in Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor”.
Though Singh declined to list India’s losses, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on May 31 acknowledged India losing aircraft in the clashes but dismissed as “absolutely incorrect” Islamabad’s claim of downing six Indian jets.
India’s non-kinetic efforts following the Pahalgam attack also played a crucial role in shaping the strategic environment . A decisive move was India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
This has far-reaching consequences for Pakistan, a country that is heavily dependent on the Indus river system for 80 percent of its 16 million hectares of agricultural land and 93 percent of its total water use.
In the course of 2025, the Indian military guarding the nearly 3,500 km LAC maintained an assertive approach, and bolstered its overall surveillance mechanism to closely track activities by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the Chinese side of the de-facto frontier.
The year also saw the Indian Navy expanding its strategic heft in the key maritime domain as it maintained a robust presence in and around the Indian Ocean, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese presence.
In a significant announcement, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi recently said the third indigenous nuclear powered submarine ‘Aridaman’ will be commissioned soon as it is in the final stages of trials.
India’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) programme is a closely guarded project. INS Arihant was the first boat under the SSBN project that was followed by another boat, INS Arighat. The SSBN programme is a key element of India’s nuclear deterrence capability.
While India has proven air and land-launched nuclear capabilities, it is now focusing on boosting its underwater nuclear prowess.
In another important move, India and France in April inked an intergovernmental agreement sealing a mega deal to procure 26 Rafale marine jets at a cost of Rs 64,000 crore (Euro 7 billion) for deployment on board Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
The year also saw the defence ministry expediting the process to procure six stealth submarines under Project 75 India at a cost of around Rs 70,000 crore.
India’s defence ties with a number countries including the US saw an upswing in 2025.
Two months ago, India and the US signed a 10-year defence framework pact to expand the bilateral strategic ties as the two sides vowed to work closely to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The signing of the agreement came amid efforts by the two sides to repair ties that have hit their lowest point in nearly two decades over Washington’s slapping of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In the course of the year, India also successfully test-fired a range of strategically important weapons including several versions of the Agni missiles.
In August, India successfully test-fired the ‘Agni-five’ intermediate range ballistic missile that has a range of up to 5,000 km. The Agni-5 missile can bring almost the entire Asia including the northernmost part of China as well as some regions in Europe under its striking range.
