Operation Sindoor showcased growing jointness among our forces: PM

India has intensified diplomatic engagement after Operation Sindoor, focusing on counter-terrorism, trade partnerships and global support against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism

India’s global outreach since the third week of May 2025 has been robust, where it has hosted at least 19 heads of state and government, including presidents and prime minister of three of the five UN Security Council members, and foreign ministers of key countries. During this period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited 19 countries, and he is scheduled to leave for a six-day tour of Europe in mid-May to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy with a brief stopover in the UAE.

 

Since Operation Sindoor, and the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan on May 10 evening, New Delhi’s diplomatic engagement has foregrounded the continued sponsoring of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan in the bilateral and multilateral communiques it has signed. Indian diplomacy, with Indian goods facing US sanctions, has also focussed on signing more equitable trade deals and exploring new markets for its exports.

 

 

However, isolating Pakistan on the global stage remained a challenge, given that US President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington has granted unprecedented access to Pakistan’s leadership, especially its Field Marshal Asim Munir. But sources in the government pointed out that India has found support from the US on the issue of terrorism. On July 18, the US Department of State designated The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). TRF has been involved in numerous terror-related activities, including the heinous attack on civilians in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, for which it twice claimed responsibility.

 

Marking the first anniversary of the military offensive against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, PM Modi said on Thursday that Operation Sindoor “showcased the growing jointness among our forces and underlined the strength that India’s quest for self-reliance in the defence sector has brought to our national security”. “Today, a year later, we remain as steadfast as ever in our resolve to defeat terrorism and destroy its enabling ecosystem,” he said.

 

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “The world knows that cross-border terrorism has long been an instrument of state policy for Pakistan. We in India have every right to defend ourselves against terrorism.” Jaiswal said the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) stands in abeyance in response to Pakistan's continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.

 

The Congress saluted the achievements of India’s armed forces but flagged the government’s inability to isolate Pakistan despite the “extensive diplomatic outreach”. Congress General Secretary In-Charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said Pakistan did not get isolated as it had been after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and, on the contrary, its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has been received with extraordinary warmth by Trump from June 2025 onwards. He said that just a few days after the Kargil War ended in July 1999, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government set up a four-member Kargil Review Committee to examine the sequence of events and make recommendations for the future, which the government has not done for Operation Sindoor.

 

India's global outreach also involved sending all-party delegations to several corners of the world, and revival of parliamentary friendship groups for 64 countries, which function as a force multiplier for the MEA.