How Operation Sindoor differs from Balakot airstrikes

Operation Sindoor is the second cross-border airstrike to be conducted by the Indian Air Force in response to terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. The first such action was on Balakot in 2019. Both operations, though having a common objective, are vastly different in their scope and execution.

Operation Sindoor of May 7 was launched as retribution to an attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 persons, while the Balakot strike was in response to a suicide car bomb attack on a CRPF bus at Pulwama that killed 40 personnel.

Compared to Operation Sindoor that hit 24 targets at nine places in Pakistan across a wide swath from across Central Rajasthan to Kashmir, Balakot was a limited operation, involving airstrikes on just once place in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The most significant aspect of Operation Sindoor is targeting places outside the disputed territory of PoK, something which has happened for the first time since the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Of the nine targets, four were in Pakistan’s Punjab province, including the militarily important city of Bahawalpur and another near Lahore.

Unlike past operations, Operation Sindoor was expansive and the decision to strike deep into Pakistan across the International Border, with Bahawalpur being about 130 kms from the border, points at a departure from prior doctrine of limited aggression and indicates an evolution in India’s strategic posture and willingness to take strong and decisive action in pursuits of its interests, according to defence experts. Balakot, a senior officer said, threw up several lessons for the future.

The platforms used were also different. While Mirage-200s armed with Spice bombs were used in Balakot, Rafales armed with long-range Scalp cruise missiles and Hammer smart bombs are believed to have been used in Operation Sindoor. Buring Balakot, IAF aircraft reportedly ingressed into PoK airspace while in Operation Sindoor, the missiles were launched from within Indian airspace. The result of the Balakot strike was kept under wraps, but the impact of Operation Sindoor is publically visible.

India