London [UK], May 16 (ANI): With India carrying out Operation Sindoor early on May 7 in response to Pahalgam terror attack and effectively repulsing subsequent Pakistani aggression, a leading London-based security expert has said that there is the shift in Indian government’s policy in terms of responding to terrorist attacks with a move to a policy stance that a failure to prevent groups from having safe haven “in your territory is enough to bring about a military response”.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Dr Walter Ladwig, Senior Lecturer of International Relations at King’s College London and a security expert said that the evidence of the Indian Air Force’s ability to strike a range of targets more or less precisely was quite impressive.
“I think what stood out for me the most was first the shift in Indian government policy in terms of responding to terrorist attacks within India that it believes are linked to groups that operate in Pakistan. And whereas in the past we saw governments feel the need to sort of seek to assemble a dossier or provide evidence of linkages… Now, there’s a move to a policy stance of saying that a failure to prevent groups from having safe haven in your territory is enough to bring about a military response when it comes to terrorist activities,” he said.
“And then once the Indian Air Force operated according to standard military procedures and doctrines, the evidence that their ability to really precisely strike a range of targets more or less precisely, I think it was quite impressive,” he added.
Ladwig was responding to a query about the India-Pakistan crisis and what aspect stood out for him in the conflict.
According to an official press release, the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully bypassed and jammed Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems during Operation Sindoor, completing the mission in just 23 minutes.
All strikes were executed without loss of Indian assets, underscoring the effectiveness of India’s surveillance, planning, and delivery systems. The use of modern indigenous technology, from long-range drones to guided munitions, made these strikes highly effective.
The Indian forces also identified and recovered proof of “hostile technologies” which were neutralised by Indian systems.
Pieces of Chinese-origin PL-15 missiles, Turkish-origin UAVs named “Yiha” or “YEEHHAW” and long-range rockets, quadcopters and commercial drones were found.
India also used loitering munitions, also known as “suicide drones” or “kamikaze drones”, which are weapons systems that can hover or circle a target area, searching for a suitable target before attacking.
India’s mix of legacy and modern systems showed excellent performance.
In preparation for Pakistan’s response, a unique blend of Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems, Electronic Warfare assets, and Air Defence Weapons from both Army and Air Force including multiple defensive layers from the International Boundary such as Counter Unmanned Aerial System, Shoulder-Fired Weapons, Legacy Air Defence Weapons, Modern Air Defence Weapon Systems were used.
This multi-tier defence prevented Pakistan Air Force attacks on Indian airfields and logistic installations during the night of May 9-10.
India launched Operation Sindoor in response to last month’s Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. India’s precision strikes in Pakistan and PoJK on May 7 killed over 100 terrorists.
Following Pakistan’s subsequent aggression, a decision was taken for a swift, coordinated, calibrated counter-attack and IAF stuck Pakistan’s air bases, command centres, military infrastructure, air defence systems across the entire Western Front.
India had carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in 2016 and an aerial strike on a terrorist camp in Pakistan in 2019 in response to ghastly terror attacks.
Answering another query, Dr Ladwig said India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than Pakistan in Islamabad’s aggression following Operation Sindoor.
“…I think India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than the Pakistan side was which sort of explains why there’s so much more information, images and so forth in the open domain that would appear to corroborate the majority of the Indians claims versus Pakistanis,” he said.
He was asked about India presenting high-resolution evidence to support its assertions in the conflict, while Pakistan’s evidence appears more limited and how he assesses this asymmetry in evidence presentation.
Dr Walter Ladwig is a Senior Lecturer, War Studies, at King’s College London. His research interests include Strategic studies, Military strategy, US foreign policy, defence politics, Indian defence policy, South Asian Security.
India and Pakistan have agreed to stop military action and firing following call made by Pakistan DGMO to his Indian counterpart on May 10. (ANI)
