BGA India Non-Executive Chairman Amb. Alok Prasad wrote an update to clients on India’s response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.

Context

  • India carried out precision strikes in the early hours of May 7 against nine terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, aiming to preempt and dismantle terror infrastructure across the border. The strikes targeted the infrastructure of two United Nations-designated terrorist groups — Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed — in addition to the Hizbul Mujahideen.
  • The Indian government said the attacks were “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature.” The statement referred to the “considerable restraint India has demonstrated in the selection of targets and method of execution,” warning that Pakistani retaliation would escalate the situation.

Significance

  • India’s strikes, codenamed “Operation Sindoor,” are a response to an attack that five armed terrorists with linkages to The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot, launched two weeks ago. The TRF claimed responsibility for the attack, which resulted in the deaths of 26 civilian tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, but later backtracked due to global outrage. Foreign Secretary Misri said India’s intelligence agencies have evidence of “communication nodes of terrorists in and to Pakistan.”
  • Operation Sindoor marks a bolder shift in India’s counter-terrorism strategy to include precise and intelligence-driven strikes that target terrorist infrastructure while avoiding military installations or civilian infrastructure to prevent escalation.

Implications

  • The current situation has not disrupted supply chains, with cities and businesses functioning normally. However, a close monitoring of the border areas is warranted. Flight disruptions and reroutings are expected in the coming days, particularly in the northern and western states sharing land borders with Pakistan.
  • India’s stock markets continued to hold ground and remain flat, indicating overall confidence in the country’s core economic indicators and growth momentum. Market experts believe that retaliatory strikes from Pakistan are already being priced in, and no significant movement of indices is expected.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in India as they occur. If you have any questions or comments, please contact BGA Senior Director Vaman Desai at vdesai@bowergroupasia.com.

Best regards,

BGA India Team

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Non-Executive Chairman

Alok is one of India’s most respected foreign policy, national security and international relations experts. Based in New Delhi, he maintains unparalleled networks in India’s government and civil service, business, civil society and diplomatic circles. Working with the BGA India team, he guides the development of client strategies and directs their implementation as non-executive chairman. Alok retired from government service in 2012 as India’s ambassador to Japan, where he led the mission during the negotiation and signing of the India–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. He lived in Japan through the tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Prior to his post ... Read More