Dear friends,

It gives me a great pleasure to welcome you to today’s conference on geostrategic aftermath of OP Sindoor. The discussion is structured around three key dimensions, the military aspects, diplomatic engagement and strategic communication, and economic and technological implications.

I welcome the moderators and panelists who will be initiating discussion on the long-term implications of OP Sindoor. I also thank the well-informed audience who will be participating in today’s discussion. We are holding the discussion in Chatham house format so that we can have uninhabited deep dive into the issues involved.

Undoubtedly, OP Sindoor marks a decisive shift in India’s national security doctrine enunciated by the Prime Minister in his address to the Nation on 12th May 2025 and heralds a “new normal”. Calling out the nuclear bluff, Prime Minister said that India would give a befitting response on its own terms acts of terrorism from across the border. How do we prepare ourselves for the new domain? We need to examine what efforts will we be required to make to sustain the new normal.

OP Sindoor has caught the nation’s attention like no issue before in recent times. A few points can be mentioned:

1. India has passed an extremely tough challenge posed by Pakistan to its sovereignty and integrity with flying colours.
2. OP Sindoor has demonstrated the country’s resolve and preparedness to deal with national security challenges.
3. The political and military leadership was unwavering and on the same page.
4. This was the first hi-tech war India fought in the age of new technologies, battlefield transparency, standoff weapons, and network-centric warfare. Most aptly, India managed to have control over the escalation ladder. The experiment of jointness and integration which started a few years ago has passed its first test.
5. India also faced unprecedented challenges to diplomacy and its narrative building capability. The world condemned terrorism, sympathised with India but fell short of calling out Pakistan. The experience shows that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done in this regard.
6. OP Sindoor has also highlighted the urgent need to promote Aatmanirbharta in defence productions.
7. OP Sindoor has also shown that in dealing with major security challenges we will not be able to rely on anyone. We will have to do it alone.

In today’s conference, we hope to dwell upon the lessons of OP Sindoor for future multi domain force development. How do we assess the international response to OP Sindoor? What are the lessons in the diplomatic arena? What is the impact of OP Sindoor on India’s foreign policy, particularly on relations with the US, China and Russia respectively? What are the takeaways for India’s strategic communication policy? How do we strengthen our strategic communication? Finally, what does OP Sindoor mean for India’s economic and technological growth? Do we need to work towards civil-military synergy in defence production, space, cyber, AI Quantum and other technological concern? Can indigenous defence production provide a trigger for economic growth?

We look forward to engaging and productive discussions.