Two weeks after devastating and shocking Pakistan with unprecedented air strikes by India, India is moving to “rebalance” its military forces along the border with Pakistan, aiming to prevent further escalation and reduce tensions.

Pakistan, which had mobilized significant reinforcements and military equipment near the international border in response to India’s precision strikes, is also preparing to withdraw its troops and return to pre-April positions.

Operation Sindoor was India’s decisive military response to the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, and was attributed to militants linked to Pakistan-based groups.

Launched on May 7, Operation Sindoor targeted nine terror camps and infrastructure hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including known bases of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Bahawalpur and Muridke. India used advanced military assets such as Rafale jets armed with SCALP missiles, BrahMos cruise missiles, and loitering munitions to carry out these strikes.

The operation marked a significant shift in India’s approach, focusing on rapid, precise, and limited strikes to degrade terrorist capabilities without escalating to a full-scale war.

Over 170 terrorists, including senior leaders of LeT and JeM, were reportedly killed. Pakistan retaliated with drone and missile attacks, some targeting Indian cities and airbases, leading to an intense aerial stand-off involving over 70 Indian and 50 Pakistani Air Force jets. However, Indian air defences successfully thwarted these desperate attacks by Pakistan.

India followed these drone and missile attacks by Pakistan with destructive precision hits of more than 11 Pakistani airbases and radar site, including an alleged nuclear weapons storage site in Kirana Hills, near Sargodha in central Punjab, Pakistan. The site is known to be a reservation of Pakistan's Ministry of Defence. It is believed that reinforced caves within the mountains are one of the sites of where the Pakistani military stores its nuclear warheads.

Handles had shared images, videos and maps claiming a blast at the Kirana Hills in Sargoda district of Pakistan's Punjab province as clear proof of the missile strike by India.

Following the four-day conflict, a ceasefire was agreed upon on May 10 after hotline communications between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries, with diplomatic intervention from the United States. Since then, both India and Pakistan have been engaged in confidence-building measures, including plans to reduce troop and equipment levels along the border within the next two weeks.

Unlike Pakistan’s large-scale mobilization, India’s troop movements were limited, mainly involving redeployment of some equipment and cancellation of non-essential leave and training. With the easing of tensions, these restrictions have now been lifted, and regular training activities are resuming.

India has maintained a firm stance that it does not seek further escalation but will respond decisively to any provocation. The government has reiterated that the armed forces remain on high alert, and the situation along the border continues to be closely monitored.

Operation Sindoor is widely regarded as a historical turning point in India’s counter-terrorism policy, demonstrating a willingness to impose direct costs on cross-border terrorist infrastructure while managing escalation risks with calibrated military responses and subsequent de-escalation efforts.

Agencies