(Dr Pentapati Pullarao)
There are perfect Tsunamis, perfect marriages and perfect wars. Perfection needs hard work and also a lot of luck. Operation Sindoor was a a perfect victory, based on hard work and some luck. Never under-estimate luck in wars or life. The great French Emperor Napoleon, ruled France from 1804, won many wars. Napoleon was asked what kind of Generals he wanted for his wars. Napoleon replied “Lucky Generals “. Don’t under-estimate Emperor Napoleon All the laws in India are based on the Napoleonic Code, which he formulated 200 years ago and came to India through the British.
The Indian military is hard-working and a great professional army, based on merit, without any social, caste or religious prejudices. The Indian military’s reputation is so great that the present Taliban defense Minister in Afghanistan Mullah Yaqoob, indicated interest in sending Taliban cadres to India for military training. The Afghan Taliban know that India’s military is professional and not political like Pakistan.
Golden rules of war over centuries:
- A country’s military must be confident that if they die in war, their families will be taken care of.
- Victory without war is the best: 2500 years ago, great Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said: “The best military victory is won without a battle “. He meant battles are horrible and no one can predict what the result will be.
- Costly victories must be avoided: 2500 years ago, King Pyrrhus of Greece waged a war against Roman empire and won. But the victory was so costly that it ruined his country. King Pyrrhus then said, “One more such victory and we will be totally destroyed”. Such military victories must be avoided at all costs.
These golden rules were totally followed in Operation Sindoor and India secured one of its best victories since 1947. India has been at war with Pakistan since 1947 and with China since 1962.Since 1962, China and Pakistan have combined forces to continuously attack India. China funds Pakistan and creates endless trouble in Northeast and along 3500 kilometre India-China border.
How war with Pakistan started:
- Pakistan sent terrorists to attack civilians at Pahalgam on April 22, 2025. India warned Pakistan of punitive action.
- On May 7th, 2025, India attacked 9 terrorist camps in Pakistan. Immediately, India sent a message to Pakistan that we don’t want to escalate and that if Pakistan keeps quiet, the matter will end there.
- But Pakistan thought that India’s message showed weakness and ordered attacks on Indian cities But India stopped all such attacks.
- Then India returned the massive attacks on Pakistan and Pakistan begged for a ceasefire on 9th. May 2025.
Lessons from these events:
- Pakistan should have agreed with India and avoided escalating war. Then India would not have launched the attacks on Pakistan and there would have been no big Indian victory.
- By escalating war, Pakistan faced defeat and also made India cancel the Indus River Water Treaty. In fact, if Pakistan kept quiet after the India attacks on the 9 terrorist camps on May 7, 2025, the Indus Water Treaty would not have been cancelled.
Un-predictable wars in the last 125 years:
If we look at wars since 1900, we will find that in 95% of wars, the exact opposite happened of what the country, which started the war wanted. That is the real lesson of Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, who said avoid wars, but prepare for war.
- In 1905, Russia had a dispute with Japan as they shared sea-borders. The Russian Emperor ordered the Russian navy, which was based in Europe to go defeat Japan. Russian Navy took 7 months to travel nearly 18,000 miles to reach Japan. On May 27, 1905, there was a naval battle between Russia and Japan and within 2 days, Japan defeated Russia. This shocking defeat destroyed the prestige of the mighty Russian emperor, and he lost his empire within 14 years, after centuries of rule.
- In 1980, Russia invaded Afghanistan, thinking it was a backward country. But Russia lost the war, and the Communist government fell by 1989.
- In 1979, China wanted to teach small Vietnam a lesson and sent thousands of troops to Vietnamese border to fight. But Vietnam killed 20,000 Chinese soldiers and China fled. Except for border skirmishes, China never fought a war since 1979.
- In February 2022, mighty Russia invaded Ukraine and thought it will be over in 10 days. The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on for 3 years and Russia has learnt many lessons.
History has thousands of examples of wars where countries faced ruin.
India therefore wanted limited war with Pakistan:
Lots of armchair warriors in rich political parties are saying that India should not have stopped the Sindoor war, till we occupied Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. In reality, such political leaders wanted India to be bogged down in war with Pakistan, like Russia is in Ukraine. These leaders or their families have never been in war nor and their children don’t die in wars and will become MLAs and MPs.
Their demands are suspicious, and India took the right decision to agree to Pakistan’s request for a cease-fire. It was a perfect victory for India. The war was short and very costly for Pakistan. Since 1947, in wars with Pakistan, Operation Sindoor had the fastest results.
The defeat has left Pakistan and China shocked and humiliated. War with China and Pakistan will go on for decades.
India must remember war histories, as hasty wars finish empires. Some political leaders wanted India to be bogged down in war with Pakistan, so that present government will get a bad name. India won a historical victory in Operation Sindoor. But India must get ready for the next war and be careful of some politicians under-mining India.
(Author is a Political and Economic analyst based in New Delhi)