The international community has, for too long, accepted Pakistan’s victim narrative at face value. The reasoning has often been geopolitical.

Every time the world confronts Pakistan with evidence of its support for terrorism, it responds with the same script. It is a victim of terrorism, not a sponsor. Its neighbours are out to defame it. The groups operating from its soil are rogue actors, beyond state control. The script has worn thin. Operation Sindoor, in May 2025, demolished it.

The Indian airstrikes on the night of May 6 to 7, 2025, did not target shadowy hideouts in remote tribal regions. They targeted Bahawalpur, a city of nearly a million people in central Punjab, well within Pakistan’s settled and policed heartland. They targeted Muridke, the sprawling Lashkar-e-Taiba complex on the outskirts of Lahore. They struck nine sites in total, four in Pakistan proper and five in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The locations told their own story. These were not camps that Pakistan had failed to find. These were camps that Pakistan had built.

The Family Business of Terror

Consider the case of Jaish-e-Mohammed, the group whose Bahawalpur headquarters India struck on May 7. Jaish was founded in 2000 by Masood Azhar, a man Pakistan released from Indian custody in December 1999 in exchange for hostages on a hijacked plane. According to multiple accounts cited by Pakistani journalists and Western researchers, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate paraded Azhar through Pakistan after his release on a fundraising tour, and helped him stand up the new outfit.

Pervez Musharraf, who served as Pakistan’s president from 2001 to 2008, admitted in a 2019 interview that Jaish-e-Mohammed had carried out attacks in India on the instructions of Pakistani intelligence. This was not an Indian allegation. This was the former military ruler of Pakistan acknowledging that Pakistan’s spy agency had directed terror operations against a neighbouring country.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group whose Muridke complex India also struck, has a similar profile. The Centre for Strategic and International Studies has documented that Lashkar conducts its attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai siege, with the consent and support of the ISI. David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American operative who scouted the Mumbai targets, testified that he met with six different ISI officers during his time with Lashkar. American investigators identified one of them, known only as Major Iqbal, as having provided 25,000 dollars in cash and direct operational guidance for the attack that killed 166 people.

What the Strikes Revealed

If Jaish and Lashkar were really rogue outfits operating outside Pakistani state control, the strikes of May 7 should have produced confused and uncertain reactions. Pakistan should have struggled to identify what had been hit, who had died, and why. Instead, the response was immediate and revealing. Pakistan’s military leadership knew exactly what had been targeted, because the targets were on Pakistan’s books in all but name.

In September 2025, a senior Jaish commander named Masood Ilyas Kashmiri appeared at the group’s annual Mission Mustafa conference and openly admitted that Masood Azhar’s family had been killed in the Bahawalpur strikes. Ten members of the family died, including Azhar’s sister, her husband, a nephew, a niece, and five children. Four close aides also died. The location of the strike was Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah, the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed, sitting comfortably inside Pakistani territory, with a UN-designated terrorist living openly within its walls.

The picture this paints is unambiguous. Masood Azhar, listed as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council since May 2019, was not in hiding. He was at home, with his family, in a complex protected by the Pakistani state. His brother Abdul Rauf Asghar, also a UN-designated terrorist and the operational head of Jaish, was reportedly killed in the same strike. Pakistan’s posture of plausible deniability has rested for decades on the fiction that men like these are difficult to find. India’s strikes proved that the only people who found them difficult to find were Pakistan’s own authorities.

The Cost of the Charade

The international community has, for too long, accepted Pakistan’s victim narrative at face value. The reasoning has often been geopolitical. Pakistan was a frontline state in the Cold War. Pakistan was a partner in the war on terror. Pakistan held nuclear weapons that demanded careful handling. Each of these arguments contained a fragment of strategic logic. None of them justified the systematic protection of men who killed civilians in Indian cities and villages.

The cost of this charade has been borne by India and by the broader region. Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of terror groups has poisoned the entire South Asian neighbourhood. It has prevented the development of normal trade and travel relations. It has consumed resources that could have built schools and hospitals on both sides of the border. And, most tragically, it has cost thousands of innocent lives across decades of attacks that Pakistan’s intelligence services helped plan, fund, and execute.

Operation Sindoor changed the equation. By striking Bahawalpur and Muridke, India made plain what had always been true. The terrorist infrastructure attacking India operates from inside Pakistan, with the protection of the Pakistani state. The terrorist leadership lives in Pakistani cities, raises families in Pakistani neighbourhoods, and runs operations from Pakistani buildings. The fiction of state distance from these activities has collapsed.

The world now has a choice. It can continue to accept the Pakistani script of victimhood, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Or it can finally treat Pakistan as what it has long been: a state that uses terrorism as an instrument of policy, and that pays a price every time it does. India has decided which path it will follow. The international community must now decide which path it can credibly continue to ignore.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Operation Sindoor wasn’t merely a military response—it was a strategic communication to the world.

In the aftermath of the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 civilians—many of them Indian and foreign tourists—India responded with a calibrated and precise military operation that has since come to be known as Operation Sindoor. The strikes were not random, nor a knee-jerk retaliation. They were part of a broader message: India will not tolerate terrorism emanating from across its borders.

The Indian Army’s statement, released at 1:44 a.m., stressed that the operation was carefully executed with “considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution.” Importantly, the strikes avoided any Pakistani military installations, targeting only confirmed terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This selectivity reflects both strategic maturity and a desire to minimize escalation.

What caught international attention, however, was the advanced nature of the weaponry used—especially the SCALP cruise missiles and HAMMER precision-guided munitions, both launched from India’s cutting-edge Rafale fighter jets.

What is the SCALP Missile?

Known in the UK as Storm Shadow, the SCALP (an acronym for Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée) is a long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed by European defense consortium MBDA. With a range of over 250 kilometers and equipped with stealth features, it is designed to strike high-value, well-protected targets deep within enemy territory.

What makes SCALP particularly formidable is its precision navigation system—a sophisticated blend of Inertial Navigation System (INS), GPS guidance, and terrain referencing. Upon launch, the missile descends to a low “terrain-hugging” altitude, making it difficult to detect by radar. As it nears the target, an onboard infrared seeker scans and matches the live image with pre-programmed target visuals. This final stage is what ensures remarkable accuracy, dramatically reducing the risk of collateral damage.

Its all-weather capability, minimal radar signature, and autonomous strike technology make SCALP one of the most lethal cruise missiles currently in service globally.

Why Was SCALP Chosen?

The decision to use SCALP for Operation Sindoor was rooted in both strategic and technical reasoning. India’s targets were deep inside Pakistan—many in hardened, underground facilities believed to host the leadership and logistical support of terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. These are not simple camps, but fortified compounds with reinforced bunkers and command centers.

In such scenarios, long-range precision and the ability to penetrate hardened structures without a large military footprint are critical. SCALP was the ideal fit—capable of reaching distant targets with surgical accuracy, while minimizing the chances of escalation through unwanted collateral damage.

What is the HAMMER Munition?

Alongside SCALP, the Indian Air Force deployed HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) bombs—precision-guided air-to-ground munitions also of French origin. Manufactured by SAFRAN, HAMMER is what’s known as a “glide bomb.” Unlike traditional gravity bombs, it can be launched from low altitudes and still travel distances up to 70 kilometers, guided by GPS, inertial systems, laser, or infrared technologies.

One of HAMMER’s standout features is its modularity—it can be equipped with various guidance and warhead kits depending on the mission. It’s also resistant to electronic jamming, making it a potent choice in contested airspaces.

Why HAMMER Was Effective

While SCALP was used for deeper and more fortified targets, HAMMER served a complementary role, particularly against medium-range targets where agility and adaptability were key. Some of the terror infrastructure in PoK consisted of safe houses, weapons storage, and training compounds spread across mountainous terrain. For these targets, HAMMER’s high precision and jamming resistance made it a natural choice.

Moreover, the terrain in PoK is notoriously challenging—high altitudes, narrow valleys, and poor visibility. HAMMER’s ability to be launched from low altitude over rough terrain helped the Indian Air Force carry out the strikes without crossing into Pakistani airspace or exposing pilots to unnecessary risk.

A Message Beyond the Missiles

Operation Sindoor wasn’t merely a military response—it was a strategic communication to the world. India showcased its capability to strike surgically and ethically, respecting the international norms of engagement. Unlike conventional bombing campaigns that risk civilian casualties, India’s usage of SCALP and HAMMER highlighted its intent to degrade terror infrastructure without drawing civilian blood.

In contrast, Pakistan’s response—shelling of the Indian border town of Poonch, resulting in the deaths of multiple civilians including children—exposed the stark difference in military conduct between the two neighbors. While India carefully chose advanced precision weapons to avoid collateral damage, Pakistan resorted to indiscriminate shelling.

The Larger Implication

This operation marks a significant evolution in India’s defense posture. The acquisition of Rafale jets, and the integration of SCALP and HAMMER munitions into its arsenal, has provided India with the ability to conduct high-impact, low-footprint operations far beyond its borders. It also signals a clear departure from past restraint where terror attacks went unanswered diplomatically but not militarily.

Importantly, this shift does not indicate a desire for prolonged conflict. In its official communication, India reaffirmed its commitment to peace and regional stability—but underscored that it will not hesitate to act decisively against terrorism.

As tensions remain high, the focus now shifts to diplomatic efforts. But one thing is clear: the rules of engagement in South Asia have changed. With tools like SCALP and HAMMER, India now possesses the ability to respond to asymmetric threats with unmatched precision.