Shankar Kumar

In security, three core principles—confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability—are followed religiously for tangible results. Before launching ‘Operation Sindoor’ on the night of May 6-7, India worked on these principles comprehensively.

Alongside the Operation to punish terrorists living a free persons and flourishing inside Pakistan even after being proscribed by the United Nations, the Operation Sindoor planners also conducted a thorough assessment of potential threats, its likely impact, and ways to counter them in time. Every step was planned meticulously and executed with the precision of chessboard strategy, resulting in India achieving its intended objectives.

In India-led actions against Pakistan, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s footprint in high-stakes operations, particularly those involving Pakistan, is hard to miss. In particular, it could be seen in India’s swift and surprising airstrikes on the nine locations of terrorists in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Doval, who maintains a low profile in public and it comes with his career as a spymaster, but this time, the world is seeing his big hand in the Modi government's offensive against Pakistan. Be it the ongoing Operation Sindoor to avenge the killing of 25 Indians and one Nepali by terrorists in Pakistan or choking water flowing to that country, the script has links to Doval's ideas he had expressed in public before he became the NSA in 2014.. 

These locations included headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Bahawalpur, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s headquarters in Muridke, and other terrorist hideouts in Kotli and Muzaffarabad. More than 100 terrorists were killed in India’s strikes across nine terror hubs in Pakistan and PoJK, as Director General of Military Operations, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, described during a press briefing on May 11.

DGMO Ghai further said that high-value targets such as Muhammad Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf, and Mudasir Ahmed were also killed in India-led strikes. Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, younger brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, was the mastermind of the 1999 hijack of IC814.

Yusuf was also the mastermind of the 40 CRPF personnel killed in Pulwama in 2019. In some way, he was also involved in the murder of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal journalist, in 2002. Targeting these high-profile terrorists would not have been possible without substantial coordination across the military, intelligence agencies, and other wings of the Indian government.

In this context, it is hard to believe that NSA Doval did not play a significant role in ensuring the logical and successful execution of ‘Operation Sindoor.’ A former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director, Ajit Doval has shown no signs of slowing down with age. Despite being an octogenarian, he remains as mentally agile and alert as ever. His former colleagues in the IB often remark that his mind is sharper than razor’s edge.

Alongside, he is also a very determined person who knows how to deal with adversaries. When he held telephonic talks with the Chinese Foreign Minister on May 10 just after Pakistan breached ceasefire and with this tension again flared in the region, he told Wang Yi that “War is not India’s choice and serves no party’s interest.” Through this, NSA Doval conveyed a message to the world that India is a peace-loving nation and if war is thrust on it, there will be a cost, and for this, none other than Pakistan will be held responsible.

If boldness is the hallmark of the Indian NSA’s life, quick and deep understanding of complex situations is the hallmark of his decision-making style. In recent years, this was seen when India launched surgical strikes in the PoK after the Uri terror incident in 2016 and Balakot air strikes in the wake of the death of 40 CRPF personnel in a suicide bombing in Pulwama in 2019.

After India launched military missions on terrorist hideouts spread in Pakistan and PoK on May 6- 7, it is said that NSA Doval dialled to his counterparts in the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Japan and briefed them on the action taken and method of execution.

He reportedly told them that India’s action was measured, non-escalatory, and restrained. During his telephonic talks, he also reportedly maintained that India had no intention to escalate tension, but was well-prepared to respond decisively should Pakistan choose to retaliate. This speaks of NSA Doval’s characteristic blend of strategic clarity, diplomatic foresight, and firm resolve in managing both operational outcomes and international perceptions.

As an experienced player of offensive-defensive strategy, NSA Doval knows precisely where to hurt Pakistan; he was reportedly part of the team Narendra Modi, which decided to keep the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. It is considered a far bigger consequential step in terms of its impact on the lives of people in Pakistan.

Stoppage of water supply from the Indus River and its distributaries, such as Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Satluj, will impact the lives of tens of millions of people in Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh provinces.

According to data, the water from rivers- Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej meets 23% of Pakistan’s agricultural needs, on which 68% of the country’s population depends in rural areas. Despite fighting three wars in 1965, 1971, and the 1999 Kargil war, breakdown in diplomatic relations, and conflict, India never adopted harsh measures like suspending the Indus Waters Treaty.

ALSO READ: Op Sindoor: Bold attack on Pakistan unbridled use of terror as state policy

This time, India made it clear that enough was enough and inflicted deep pain on Pakistan through its calibrated water strategy. Understandably, when a strategic mind like NSA Doval is involved in national security planning, anything is possible to protect the nation and its interests. ‘Operation Sindoor’ will be remembered for its lasting impression on Pakistan, both strategically and psychologically.

Shankar Kumar is an independent Journalist and writes on geopolitics and strategic issue