When India struck deep

Operation Sindoor and the 1971 war

3 min read

Updated On: Jun 10 2026 | 6:00 AM IST

Operation Sindoor, India Pakistan relations, Pahalgam attack, Fighter jet

Folland Gnat, operated by the IAF during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, earned success against Pakistan’s F-86 Sabre jets in aerial combat over East Pakistan, now Bangladesh (Photo: Ministry of Defence)

Two armed conflicts. Separated by more than 50 years. One, a full-blown conventional war waged at a time when neither of the rival countries owned declared nuclear weapons. The other, carried out when both nations were nuclear-armed, thereby demanding caution and restraint. One redrew the map of South Asia in a pre-defence-tech era. The other reflected the realities of modern warfare through agility and the use of unmanned autonomous systems and drones.

The India-Pakistan war of 1971 and Operation Sindoor, which India launched a year ago, on May 7, 2025, against Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 25 Indians and a Nepali tourist were killed in a targeted manner, were hugely different in scale and outcome. But they also had some striking similarities.

Operation Sindoor, a calibrated military action, saw India hitting deep inside Pakistan, specifically its Punjab province, for the first time since the 1971 war, which had culminated in the birth of Bangladesh. It was also the most extensive cross-border military action since ’71.

Like the 1971 war, it was a coordinated, integrated military campaign involving the tri-services: the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy.

'This is the need of the hour'

In 1971, while the principal theatre of war was East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Indian forces were actively engaged on the western front as well. Under Operation Trident, launched on December 4 that year, the Indian Navy attacked Karachi harbour, Pakistan’s main port city, and followed up the attack four days later with Operation Python.

Fierce fighting, including tank battles, also took place in Pakistan’s Punjab province near Lahore, Sialkot, and the Shakargarh sector (Battle of Basantar). Indian troops also marched into Sindh (Khokhrapar, Umerkot) and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Unlike the full-blown ’71 war, which lasted 13 days, Operation Sindoor lasted four days, turning into an armed conflict as Pakistan retaliated. But within those four days, India also struck targets in Pakistan’s Punjab province, terrorist camps and infrastructure in PoK, through what is described as precision strikes.

In Pakistan’s Punjab province, India said it hit the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Bahawalpur; a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Muridke in Sheikhupura District, about 38 km northwest of Lahore, where 2008 Mumbai terror attacker Ajmal Kasab is believed to have trained; and Sarjal, a JeM training and communication control facility, in Sialkot.

Besides this, Indian forces also struck terror bases in PoK, including Muzaffarabad and Kotli, targeting, among others, a Hizbul Mujahideen facility here. All these facilities and camps have been labelled as militant launchpads or centres from where infiltrators are pushed into Jammu and Kashmir.

As in the 1971 war, the Indian Navy played its part, deploying the Carrier Battle Group. Equipped with Hawker Sea Hawk fighter jets and airborne early warning helicopters, it ensured persistent surveillance and real-time identification of threats, besides maintaining an air defence shield with naval pilots conducting round-the-clock sorties.

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Written By :

Veenu Sandhu

Veenu Sandhu is senior associate editor at Business Standard. Based in New Delhi, she has been a journalist since 1996, and has worked in some of India's leading newsrooms across print, digital and television media, including NDTV 24x7, Hindustan Times and The Indian Express. At Business Standard, she writes, commissions, edits and gives direction to special, in-depth articles for the newspaper and the digital platform across beats and sectors. She also hosts video shows for Business Standard. Before this, she edited BS Weekend. She is a 2017-18 batch Chevening South Asia Journalism fellow.