India's security doctrine has undergone a profound transformation following Operation Sindoor, marking the end of decades-long strategic restraint and ushering in an era of assertive pre-emption and coercive clarity, as detailed in a recent Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) analysis by John Spencer and Dr Lauren Dagan Amos.​

Operation Sindoor, launched in 2025 after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, exemplified this shift by employing deep strikes, drone swarms, loitering munitions, and long-range precision fires without awaiting international validation or prolonged attribution processes.​

Previously, India's responses to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism—such as Uri in 2016 and Balakot in 2019—relied on calibrated, predictable retaliation, which analysts argue merely enabled adversaries by providing preparation time for subsequent attacks.​

The new paradigm treats major cross-border terror incidents as acts of war rather than law enforcement issues, with pre-emption now enshrined as a sovereign right, institutionalised through consistent patterns of retaliation that align with rising domestic demands for decisive action.​

Diplomatic postures have hardened accordingly; during 2025 ceasefire talks with Pakistan, India rejected external mediation, favouring direct Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) channels, underscoring a view of regional crises as internal matters.​

The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty for the first time signalled that resource-sharing pacts are now conditional on supporting India's security, embodying the principle that blood and water cannot flow together.​

On the nuclear front, while No First Use persists, rhetoric has evolved to emphasise assured punishment over mere retaliation, bolstered by advancements like MIRVs, cannisterised missiles, and routine SSBN patrols for a readiness-focused deterrent.​

Proxy terror groups are no longer seen as deniable non-state actors but as extensions of hostile state policy, expanding target sets to encompass their supporting ecosystems.​

China emerges as a critical secondary audience, with Sindoor's interception of PL-15 air-to-air missiles and defeat of Chinese-supplied air defences yielding vital intelligence for two-front contingencies and demonstrating vulnerabilities in Beijing's exports.​

This doctrine aligns capabilities, political will, and messaging around autonomous security achievement, though it compresses decision timelines in a nuclearized South Asia, heightening escalation risks amid reduced space for miscalculation.​

Based On News18 Report