“India successful in striking much wider range of targets...”: Security expert Walter Ladwig on Op Sindoor and Pakistan aggression

London [UK], May 16 (ANI):  India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than Pakistan in the aggression by Islamabad following Operation Sindoor, a London-based renowned security expert has said, noting that India’s response marked a shift in Indian government policy in terms of responding to terrorist attacks within India that it believes are linked to groups that operate in Pakistan.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Dr Walter Ladwig, Senior Lecturer, International Relations at King's College London, a leading security expert said the Indian Air Force operated according to standard military procedures in the conflict and their ability to precisely strike a range of targets more or less precisely was quite impressive.

“I think India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than the Pakistan side was which sort of explains why there's so much more information, images and so forth in the open domain that would appear to corroborate the majority of the Indians claims versus Pakistanis,"  he said.

He was asked about India presenting high-resolution evidence to support its assertions in this conflict, while Pakistan's evidence appeared more limited and how he assesses this asymmetry in evidence presentation.

Asked about the current India-Pakistan crisis and what aspect stood out for him the most in the conflict, Dr Ladwig said that there's a move by the Indian government to a policy stance of saying that a failure to prevent groups from having safe haven in Pakistan’s territory is enough to bring about a military response when it comes to terrorist activities.

"I think what stood out for me the most was first the shift in Indian government policy in terms of responding to terrorist attacks within India that it believes are linked to groups that operate in Pakistan. And whereas in the past we saw governments feel the need to sort of seek to assemble a dossier or provide evidence of linkages ... Now, there's a move to a policy stance of saying that a failure to prevent groups from having safe haven in your territory is enough to bring about a military response when it comes to terrorist activities," he said.

"And then once the Indian Air Force operated according to standard military procedures and doctrines, the evidence that their ability to really precisely strike a range of targets more or less precisely, I think it was quite impressive," he added.

Dr Walter Ladwig III is a Senior Lecturer, War Studies, at King’s College London. His research interests include Strategic studies, Military strategy, US foreign policy,  defence politics, Indian defence policy, South Asian Security.

India launched precise strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan early on May 7 through Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. India also effectively repelled the subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airports.

The two countries have agreed to stop military action and firing following a call made by Pakistan's DGMO to his Indian counterpart.  (ANI)