Nearly a year after India responded to the Pahalgam terror attack with Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK, Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian Tom Cooper described India’s campaign as a clear-cut military victory. In an interview Cooper said India not only outmatched Pakistan militarily but also delivered a strong strategic message through a calibrated, precise response.
Cooper judged the strikes carried out during Operation Sindoor to be strategically significant and highly effective, hitting major terror camps and targets previously regarded as beyond India’s reach. He said the damage forced Pakistan into a defensive posture and marked a shift in India’s operational approach: New Delhi showed it could strike selected targets inside Pakistan and blunt retaliation.
After India’s strikes on the night of May 7 last year, Pakistan attempted to escalate by targeting Indian airbases, military installations and civilian areas near Amritsar. Cooper argued those efforts largely failed, noting that Indian air-defence systems intercepted and destroyed an estimated 95–98 percent of incoming Pakistani rockets, missiles and UAVs, rendering much of the retaliation ineffective.
India then increased pressure, he said, by targeting Pakistani air-defence systems and key airbases with precision. When Pakistan considered employing tactical ballistic and cruise missiles, India not only blocked those moves but also executed precise strikes that degraded Pakistan’s capabilities. According to Cooper, this sequence created significant pressure within Pakistan’s leadership and demonstrated India’s preparedness for escalation.
Cooper acknowledged that Pakistan may have achieved a few limited tactical wins, such as one or two air-combat successes, but maintained those did not alter the overall outcome: India emerged the clear winner of the confrontation.
He also pointed to internal and external constraints shaping Pakistan’s posture. The Pakistani military, Cooper said, needs to justify its dominance over civilian institutions and sustain an image of military strength for domestic legitimacy. Attempts to modernize with Chinese platforms like J-10 fighters and PL-15 missiles provide some capability but are not a comprehensive long-term solution. Pakistan’s serious economic strains further limit its ability to sustain large-scale acquisitions or realize the full promise of major investment projects.
Looking ahead, Cooper warned that underlying tensions between India and Pakistan remain unresolved, making similar flare-ups possible in the future. His assessment underscores India’s growing capacity to carry out precise, high-impact operations against embedded targets and to deter or blunt adversary escalation.
