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The heavy guns had to eventually fall silent on the western front precisely because the fighting between India and Pakistan had, by Saturday (May 10) morning, more or less satisfactorily addressed the concerns of the ruling establishments in New Delhi and Islamabad. All said and done, it was a politicians’ war, carried out by generals and it was the politicians who agreed to cease hostilities.

There was no precise military objective, defined or unstated, when India initiated its “restrained and measured” action against  ‘terror-camps” – except that the Indian leadership was obliged to respond to the Pahalgam massacre in a manner that at least at home would be seen as “going beyond the Balakot”  strike template.

To that extent, the Indian leadership has demonstrated its willingness to back its words of warning and threat with coercive and punitive action. From the very beginning of ‘Operation Sindoor’ the Indian side was keen to make the point that it was not picking a fight with Pakistan’s military establishment.

The Indian political leadership has every reason to feel that it has reaffirmed itself in the eyes of its own domestic constituency.  The Opposition felt obliged to applaud the armed forces and offered unequivocal support to the government. Prime Minister Modi has, once again, refurbished his fading image; and in the days to come, his massive propaganda machine will work overtime to elevate him as the greatest ‘general’  and ‘war leader’ India has........

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