The people of India stand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in saluting the defence forces and condemning the barbaric terrorist killings in Pahalgam that led India to strike Pakistan deeper than it has in five decades. The widespread support for the Indian action is reflective of the national resolve to find terrorists wherever they are and bring them to justice. Yet, this resolve runs the risk of descending into an echo chamber of self-congratulatory noises that can prevent the nation from the deep analysis that is required to fully understand how the theatre of war played out.

While some Indian objectives have been achieved, it is difficult at this stage to argue that Operation Sindoor was a runaway success. But even if the operation brought limited success, the lessons that it offers are almost unlimited. We have a minefield of data – from political groundwork, diplomatic engagement and ideas of planning, strategy or operational issues to rich battlefield data on performance of high-tech military hardware and cutting-edge platforms.

Self-gloating shuts out honest inquiry

The next battle will be won by those who can draw on these lessons well, on the military front but more particularly on the political front where the big decisions on a war are taken. Learning is not always easy. At the highest political level, it challenges the playbook that brought us machismo talk and roaring war cries, including at an election rally, but less evidence of the hard work required to build international support in times of war, even as the nation hopes that a war will never happen. 

Alongside must come the desire to encourage hard questions with a sense of humility, integrity and curiosity, none of which is helped by a self-gloating that tends to shut out searching inquiry. At the same time, parties across the political spectrum have to be brought together with more trust-building moves rather than election-style attacks on the Opposition if we are to draw the full benefits of national unity on the issue.

Trust-building was not helped by the Prime Minister’s decision to skip the all-party meeting called on April 24, just two days after the Pahalgam terror killings, when all political leaders, including the Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Raya Sabha were present. That misjudgement came from the old playbook. The government’s decision now to send all-party delegations to various international capitals is different. It signals a change in outlook. But the controversy created when Shashi Tharoor, not nominated by the Congress, gets into the list – a needless pinprick – tells us that old habits will die hard. We are back to lessons not learned. The Congress has already said the BJP is playing games. This lands into poor trust and poor political relationships on an issue that demands deep political unity.

Shrieking news media anchors and one-sided news 

Some lessons come from the way information has turned meaningless. It is prudent today to discard all outside claims and counterclaims on what went right or wrong amid the fog of the war, made messier by shrieking news media anchors and self-proclaimed ultra-nationalists making many (mostly false) claims. Such is the phantasmagorical volley of claims that the government might be embarrassed, so much so that the pro-government media has rendered itself useless in service of its masters. This is a case of friends of the fair-weather variety effectively working as worse than enemies. Just as the overall value of customer reviews on the e-commerce platform Amazon is enhanced by publishing the negative as well as positive feedback, the media works when all shades of opinion are allowed to flourish. An eco system marked by overwhelmingly one-sided views is bad first and foremost for that one side being pushed. These are elementary lessons that may need to be relearned.

War is the call of last resort. This is the Indian position, and indeed also the position that the Prime Minister has laid out in so many words in the past. In 2022, the Prime Minister was quoted as saying at Kargil: “India has always viewed war as the last resort, but the armed forces have the strength and strategies to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on the nation.” But, when this last resort is exercised, then the brahmastra (the ultimate weapon) can lose its potency. It cannot be put to use or operated again in the same way. Lesser action will be made light of; stronger action will risk a swift escalation with unacceptable levels of risk. 

This is significant for India in the wake of a ceasefire hurriedly announced, not by India or by Pakistan but first by US President Donald Trump. What this means for the future will take time to be fully analysed. Meanwhile, some political responses being sent out on Whatsapp groups must be avoided – one said a “full war” is possible only when the BJP wins 400 seats. The terror attacks and war are not issues on which anyone should ask for votes and seats in Parliament. This is dangerous and disrespectful – it comes from overeager sympathisers and party acolytes who do more damage to the party they seek to support.

Need to ask the difficult questions

Do note that Trump equated India and Pakistan when he spoke on the ceasefire, erasing the genuinely-earned and the increasingly well-accepted de-hyphenation of two neighbours that were born at the same time but have walked very different paths – India as a secular nation that is an economic powerhouse while Pakistan as a failing democracy that faces economic uncertainty. This re-hyphenation is a sorry picture because it dwarfs India and keeps the nation confined and limited rather than seen as a nation of higher standing, coming close after China and quickly catching up.

Lastly, the Pahalgam killings show as hollow the claims of the government that peace would return to the Valley after Article 370 was effectively scrapped. This clearly has not borne out, as indeed many had pointed out since then. We can now ask how terrorists strike with such ease, where were the security forces, what is the level of intelligence and why heads must now roll when such killings take place again and again. The killers of innocent people in Pahalgam still roam free. 

The learnings from the short war are many but will be available only to those who can challenge themselves and ask the difficult questions.

(The writer is a journalist and faculty member at SPJIMR, Mumbai. Views expressed are personal. By special arrangement with The Billion Press)