At the NDTV Defence Summit, Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma delivered an in-depth account of how India’s counter-terror operations have transformed in recent years, reflecting not only shifts in Pakistan’s operational tactics but also India’s own enhanced preparedness and precision in executing retaliatory strikes.

His remarks were set against the backdrop of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were brutally massacred, and which subsequently provided the trigger for Operation Sindoor and later Operation Mahadev.

Lt Gen Sharma began by squarely blaming Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir for what he described as “direct provocation.” He highlighted a speech delivered by the Pakistani general in Islamabad on April 16, where Munir invoked the two-nation theory and termed Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein.”

According to Sharma, this speech not only emboldened terrorist groups operating across the border but also incited the Pakistani Army itself, leading to escalated cross-border hostilities and infiltration attempts.

India’s response was decisive and rooted in clear political and strategic directions. As Lt Gen Sharma emphasized, the government issued unambiguous instructions for punitive precision strikes to target the perpetrators of the April 22 attack, while simultaneously demonstrating India’s resolve of “zero tolerance” toward terrorism.

The culmination of this directive was Operation Sindoor, launched in the early hours of May 7, an action that saw coordinated missile strikes on nine terror camps located deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Of these, the Northern Command was tasked with neutralizing seven camps, most of which were strategically concealed in the folds of hilly terrain, making both human intelligence (HUMINT) and technical surveillance extremely challenging.

The Indian Air Force was tasked with striking the two other camps—Muridke and Bhawalpur—situated in the International Border (IB) sector, where the identification of exact coordinates posed comparatively fewer difficulties.

The strikes resulted in the elimination of over 100 terrorists, significantly degrading terror infrastructure. Predictably, Pakistan retaliated with ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC), which began within 30 minutes of the operations.

However, Lt Gen Sharma underlined the preparedness of Indian forces, noting that immediate and proportionate retaliation was launched along the LoC, ensuring tactical dominance and signalling to Pakistan the futility of escalation.

Lt Gen Sharma described Operation Sindoor as a “masterstroke,” in terms of its timing, precision, and coordination across the Army, Navy, and Air Force—a clear example of tri-services synergy. He compared it with earlier punitive strikes such as the 2016 post-Uri surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot aerial strikes conducted after the Pulwama suicide bombing.

Together, he argued, these operations reinforced India’s capacity to operate decisively “below the conventional domain,” thereby setting effective deterrence thresholds without sparking a full-scale war.

However, the Army Commander made it clear that the response to terrorism did not end with cross-border strikes. Domestically, counter-terror operations continued with equal intensity. The principal focus after the Pahalgam attack was the relentless hunt for the three terrorists directly involved in the massacre.

This manhunt, which spanned 97 consecutive days, demanded sustained operations under highly challenging conditions. Finally, in late July, during Operation Mahadev, all three were neutralized, delivering what Lt Gen Sharma described as “final justice” for the families of the victims who had been waiting in anguish since April.

In explaining the changing dynamics of counter-terror warfare, Sharma provided crucial insights into how terrorist strategies have evolved over the past few years. He pointed out that militants no longer operate from built-up, populated urban areas, a tactic that earlier allowed Indian forces to act swiftly based on precise ground intelligence and execute cordon-and-search operations targeting specific homes or neighbourhoods.

Instead, terrorists now prefer to operate from remote hills, dense jungles, and concealed caves, exploiting terrain and natural cover to prolong the operational cycle and stretch Indian resources. This shift has made it harder to generate timely actionable intelligence and has forced Indian forces to adapt with long-drawn, high-endurance operations, often extending beyond a month.

In his concluding remarks, Lt Gen Sharma reaffirmed that despite these challenges, the Indian Army remains unwavering in its professional commitment to counter-terrorism. By adopting intelligence-driven strategies, leveraging tri-service synergy, and retaining the element of swift retaliation when required, India has demonstrated both resilience and resolve in dealing with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

The “days of easy operations are gone,” he reflected, but in their place has emerged a far more sophisticated and determined counter-terror strategy that combines patience, precision, deterrence, and adaptability.

Based On NDTV Report