New Delhi– India’s swift and targeted military strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under “Operation Sindoor” have drawn strong praise from John W. Spencer, a leading global authority on urban warfare. Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute, called the operation a “massive victory for India” and a defining moment in modern military doctrine.
In a detailed analysis, Spencer contrasted India’s current approach with its previous restraint in the face of terrorism, particularly referencing the 2008 Mumbai attacks. “The India of 2008 absorbed attacks and waited. This India hits back — immediately, precisely, and with clarity,” he wrote, emphasizing the evolution in India’s national security posture.
According to Spencer, what set Operation Sindoor apart was its clear focus and limited scope. “This wasn’t about occupation or regime change. It was a limited war executed for specific objectives,” he said. “India wasn’t fighting for vengeance. It was fighting for deterrence. And it worked.”
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for the strategic response, noting that India refrained from seeking international mediation or issuing diplomatic protests. Instead, it acted swiftly with calibrated airstrikes against the terror networks believed responsible for the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam.
“Operation Sindoor met and exceeded its strategic aims — destroying terrorist infrastructure, demonstrating military superiority, restoring deterrence, and unveiling a new national security doctrine,” Spencer said. “This was not symbolic force. It was decisive power, clearly applied.”
Spencer emphasized that critics who argue India should have gone further fail to grasp the operation’s success. “Strategic success isn’t about the scale of destruction — it’s about achieving the desired political effect,” he wrote.
He further praised the precision and control with which India carried out the strikes, calling it a rare example of clarity in modern warfare. “The use of force in Operation Sindoor was overwhelming yet controlled — precise, decisive, and without hesitation. That kind of clarity is rare in modern war,” Spencer noted. “Operation Sindoor offers a model of limited war with clearly defined ends, matched ways and means, and a state that never relinquished the initiative.”
The expert assessment signals growing international recognition of India’s evolving military doctrine, positioning the country as increasingly assertive in defending its sovereignty and deterring cross-border terrorism. (Source: IANS)
