Director General Naval Operations Vice Admiral AN Pramod, addressing the media in Jaipur on the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor on Thursday, said that the May 7 military operation demonstrated India’s ability to strike terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan while effectively calling what he described as the “bluff” of nuclear threats.
“By striking terror hubs in the heart of Pakistan using long-range precision weapons, India effectively called the bluff on Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail,” he said.
Top Indian military officials also said that no terror sanctuary in Pakistan is beyond India’s strike capabilities. They further clarified that no third country brokered the cessation of hostilities in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
Vice Admiral Pramod emphasised that the operation reflected a clear strategic mandate from the political leadership, coupled with operational autonomy for the armed forces. “It provided a precise and unambiguous mandate and the necessary operational freedom enabling decisive kinetic action,” he said.
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Former DGMO Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai also described Operation Sindoor as a “defining moment” in India’s strategic evolution. “It was just the beginning. India’s fight against terror will go on. A year on, we remember not just the operation but also the principle behind it. India will defend its sovereignty, its security, and its people decisively, professionally and with the utmost responsibility,” he said.
VIDEO | Jaipur: “Operation Sindoor was not an end; it was just a beginning”, says Deputy Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, who was DGMO during Operation Sindoor.
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/1WiHDUJX9M
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 7, 2026 Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 last year, came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22, 2025. In coordinated strikes, Indian forces targeted nine terror launchpads across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The strikes resulted in the dismantling of infrastructure linked to groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen. More than 100 militants were reported killed.
The military confrontation lasted four days before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10, 2025.
Economic impact of Operation Sindoor on Pakistan
Pakistan’s precarious economic situation was severely aggravated by the conflict. The country was already carrying $130 billion in external debt and depending on a $7 billion IMF bailout programme.
Pakistani economist Farrukh Saleem estimated at the time that the combined 87-hour conflict cost “about a billion dollars per hour for both sides”, with Pakistan bearing roughly 20% of that total (~$17–20 billion).
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While India’s RBI Governor described India’s economic impact as “very, very limited, negligible”, Pakistan’s $350-billion economy absorbed proportionally catastrophic blows. Pakistan’s KSE-100 index crashed over 7.2% in a single day on May 7, triggering a temporary halt in trading.
From the date of the Pahalgam attack to the ceasefire, the benchmark index had cumulatively fallen nearly 13%, reportedly wiping out an estimated $2-3 billion in investor wealth.
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