Ashwini Vaishnaw: India rewrote counter-terrorism rules with 'Operation Sindoor'

The massacre in Pahalgam was not just an attack on innocent lives — it was an assault on India’s conscience, Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has said in a blog post. 

He said India rewrote the rulebook on counter-terrorism, and that history will remember India’s response to Pahalgam as "measured and principled". "Bharat stood tall, spoke with one voice, and struck with one force."

"Operation Sindoor is the Modi government’s clearest articulation of a zero-tolerance, no-compromise policy to safeguard national security, the Modi doctrine," he wrote.

The Prime Minister, during his televised address to the nation this week, outlined the doctrine for dealing with terrorism. The doctrine, shaped by recent events, establishes a decisive framework for India's response to terrorism and external threats.

PM Modi said from now onwards, India's three pillars of doctrine are: if there is a terrorist attack on India, it will respond in its own way, on its own terms, at its own time; India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail; and third, it will not see the government that patronises terror and the masters of terror separately.

Vaishnaw stated that PM Modi ensured India's every move, from suspending the Indus Waters Treaty to launching military strikes on terror camps, was carefully planned and timed. "The government chose strategy over impulse. This helped prevent Pakistan and terror groups from anticipating India’s response. It ensured that Operation Sindoor was executed with surprise, precision, and full impact."

The new normal

The Prime Minister, during his address to the nation, also said that “Operation Sindoor is now India's established policy in the fight against terrorism, marking a decisive shift in India's strategic approach”. This operation, said the minister, has set a new standard, a new normal in counter-terrorism measures.

Echoing the PM's words that "Operation Sindoor is not just a name, but a reflection of the feelings of millions of people of the country," the minister says it was India’s message to the world that barbarity will be met with calibrated force. "The complicity of neighbouring states in terrorism will no longer be shielded behind diplomatic façades or nuclear rhetoric."

No more business as usual with terror

This is not the first time India has acted with clarity and courage, said Vaishnaw, highlighting India's surgical strikes in 2016, Balakot airstrikes and now Operation Sindoor. "India under PM Modi has built a clear doctrine: swift, decisive action against terror—on India’s terms. Each step has raised the bar and shown India’s resolve to act with precision when provoked," he wrote.

This time, he stated, the message from India is unambiguous—terror and trade cannot go together. "The Attari-Wagah border has been shut. Bilateral trade has been suspended. Visas have been cancelled. The Indus Waters Treaty has been put on hold. In the Prime Minister’s words, “water and blood cannot flow together.” The economic and diplomatic costs of backing terror are now real and rising, he added.

The minister also said that "Operation Sindoor" is not the end—it is the beginning of a new era of clarity, courage, and our sankalp to tackle terror.