India, May 7 -- It had been a fortnight since the brutal killing of civilians by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, and anger was simmering across India. While there were murmurs on how India would respond, no one could say anything about the nature of the response or its time. Amid despair and rage for the loss of civilians' lives in the valley, a message from the Indian Army flashed shortly after midnight, as it announced 'Operation Sindoor', the military action against terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

What began as tackling and dismantling terror soon moved to strikes on Pakistan's military installation, in retaliation to the neighbour first launching drones targeting Indian m...