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<JournalTitle>ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES</JournalTitle>
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<EISSN/>
<Volume-Issue>Volume 6 Issue 3</Volume-Issue>
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<IssueTopic>Multidisciplinary</IssueTopic>
<IssueLanguage>English</IssueLanguage>
<Season>Dec 2025-Jan 2026</Season>
<SpecialIssue>N</SpecialIssue>
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<IssueOA>Y</IssueOA>
<PubDate>
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<Month>11</Month>
<Day>30</Day>
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<ArticleType>Defense Studies</ArticleType>
<ArticleTitle>Operation Sindoor: Drawing Lessons for India and Pakistan</ArticleTitle>
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<ArticleLanguage>English</ArticleLanguage>
<ArticleOA>Y</ArticleOA>
<FirstPage>548</FirstPage>
<LastPage>582</LastPage>
<AuthorList>
<Author>
<FirstName>Manish</FirstName>
<LastName>Kumar</LastName>
<AuthorLanguage>English</AuthorLanguage>
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<DOI>https://doi.org/10.47362/EJSSS.2026.6307 </DOI>
<Abstract>This article offers an analysis of Operation Sindoor, India__ampersandsign#39;s military response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack. It reconstructs the operation using tier-based escalation structure based on defence reporting, press briefings, and OSINT. It delves into five research questions: Pakistan__ampersandsign#39;s air power deficiencies, India__ampersandsign#39;s indigenous war effort, doctrinal shifts in Indian armed forces, the use of information warfare, and strategic lessons for India and Pakistan. The findings highlight Operation Sindoor represented a doctrinal shift away from previous kinetic responses under the nuclear threshold, indicating an Indian preference for limited high-intensity engagements supported by air power, indigenous equipment, and C4ISR structures in response to any sort of terrorist attack; it also highlights lessons for both belligerents: India needs to fill intelligence voids and achieve complete indigenisation and jointness in defence. On the other hand, Pakistan must stop sponsoring terrorism, lessen its reliance on outside forces for military and economic support, build air power, prevent conflicts, and resolve internal unrest. Political autonomy in Pakistan is the only long-term solution. The findings affirm the relevance of limited war theory, deterrence-by-punishment, and escalation-ladder in Operation Sindoor, where the calibrated use of air power has achieved the objective and also deterred Pakistan from breaching nuclear threshold.</Abstract>
<AbstractLanguage>English</AbstractLanguage>
<Keywords>Operation Sindoor,Pahalgam terrorist attack,India-Pakistan conflict,air power,aerial warfare in South Asia</Keywords>
<URLs>
<Abstract>https://www.ejsss.net.in/ubijournal-v1copy/journals/abstract.php?article_id=16113&title=Operation Sindoor: Drawing Lessons for India and Pakistan</Abstract>
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<References>
<ReferencesarticleTitle>References</ReferencesarticleTitle>
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<ReferenceslastPage>19</ReferenceslastPage>
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</References>
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