Vinit Utpal
Six years ago, on February 26, 2019, India’s external strategic paradigm underwent a historic transformation with the Balakot Air Strike. India’s armed forces had long demonstrated strategic restraint, refraining from military actions beyond its borders in line with the country's ethos. The operation targeted terrorist infrastructure deep within Pakistan’s Balakot region, located in the Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
When the news of the Balakot airstrike broke the following day, hashtags such as #SurgicalStrike, #IndiaStrikeBack and #Josh trended on social media, especially on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Meanwhile, Western media presented a misleading narrative regarding the situation in India. The New York Times published an article stating, “With India claiming to have avenged the Kashmir attack and Pakistan claiming that India had done no real damage, it seemed possible that the situation could yet be defused.” The article also incorrectly suggested that India’s airstrike was simply “political symbolism” ahead of the upcoming elections. Similarly, outlets like China Daily and Al Jazeera covered the incident but focused on statements from Pakistani officials. At the same time, Pakistan’s government faced a crisis, taking 43 days to show the media Balakot was intact, misleading them to the wrong location.
The Balakot Air Strike marked the first instance in India’s history where the country grounded in an unwavering commitment to non-aggression and sovereign inviolability since independence chose a decisive military action. At the time, Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh referred to the strikes as a singular event of military precision and impact and urging the leadership to think strategically rather than tactically. He stated, “Our approach to terrorism has been and will remain a judicious combination of clinical military action and mature, responsible diplomatic outreach.” He also reassured the nation that the government would respond appropriately to any threat to India’s national security in the future. However, this principled foreign policy often left India vulnerable to exploitation by revisionist states and non-state militant proxies with Pakistan and its extensive network of Islamist militants being the most prominent adversaries.
From the Pakistani army’s unilateral and duplicitous territorial advances in Kargil (1999) to its long-standing sponsorship of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, this expectation remained unrealized as Pakistan’s military-dominated establishment continued to harbor and instrumentalize these militant elements as tools of statecraft against India. This continued asymmetric aggression seemed to embolden Pakistan, potentially misreading India's patience as inertia or at worst, reticence.
The Balakot Air Strike not only redefined the contours of Indo-Pakistani military engagement but also made a clear doctrinal statement: India would no longer remain constrained by self-imposed operational limitations and would neutralize security threats at their point of origin with decisive action. The immediate precursor to the Balakot airstrikes was the terrorist attack on February 14, 2019, when a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. This horrific attack was one of the deadliest in recent Indian history, resulted in the loss of 40 personnel. The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based jihadist organization led by Maulana Masood Azhar. JeM has long sponsored cross-border terrorism against India with the support of Pakistan’s deep state.
As Islamabad repeatedly resisted international calls to act against JeM, the Pulwama attack forced India to recalibrate its strategic response. It was culminated the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) to dare airstrikes deep inside Pakistani territory aimed at dismantling the terrorist infrastructure of JeM. This operation changed the balance of power on the borders sending a clear signal that Indian forces would take every measure including cross-border actions to address any anti-India acts from Pakistan or its sponsored entities.
According to media reports, the Balakot airstrikes symbolized not just a shift in India’s military doctrine but also showcased the effectiveness of inter-service operational synergy and precision-strike capabilities. After verifying indisputable intelligence that JeM had relocated its insurgent cadre and senior leadership to a hidden camp near the Islamic seminary of Muhammad Yusuf Azhar, an operation was conceived at the highest levels of India’s defense command. The strike carried out in the early hours of February 26, 2019 involved the precise neutralization of the identified terrorist infrastructure located approximately 20 kilometers from Balakot town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The operation, now regarded as a textbook example in modern aerial warfare and counter-terrorism strategy demonstrated India’s capability and willingness to execute high-risk cross-border precision strikes with doctrinal clarity. Media reports said that the IAF conducted a multi-axis aerial maneuver, simultaneously launching dozens of fighter jets from various airbases under the Western and Central Air Commands. This tactic was designed to confuse Pakistan’s air defense systems and obscure the intent and objectives of the Indian aircraft. By using this deception a small group of aircraft was able to break away from the main force and penetrate Pakistani airspace with minimal detection striking the identified terrorist camp with surgical precision.
The kinetic operation lasted about 20 minutes, demonstrating an unmatched level of tactical planning and precision. Post-strike assessments and corroborated intelligence suggested that the targeted facility housed between 500 to 700 insurgents undergoing terrorist training with reports estimating that over 300 were likely neutralized. The success of the Balakot operation went beyond the military realm providing India with a diplomatic triumph as the international community rallied behind India’s right to defend itself against terrorism, primarily emanating from Pakistan.
In the aftermath, while Western media initially misrepresented India’s actions, they later recognized the paradigm shift in India’s diplomacy regarding terrorism in the South Asian region. The international community acknowledged India’s right to self-defense against terrorism originating from its western border and condemned Pakistan’s enduring role in fostering extremist networks. This marked a significant shift in the international discourse. It underscored India’s growing stature as a key actor in shaping global counter-terrorism norms and reinforced its position as a responsible stakeholder in international security.
Nevertheless, the Balakot operation has left a lasting impression on India’s collective memory, representing the valor of its armed forces a recalibrated anti-terrorism doctrine and newfound confidence on the international stage. At the same time, it serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by the armed forces in their relentless efforts to secure the country’s borders and uphold its sovereignty, while highlighting the flawed narrative of India’s diplomacy presented by Western media.
(The views expressed are personal. The author is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Jammu.)