After Operation Sindoor, calculate

Writing a postscript to a military engagement that is barely four weeks old may seem premature, more so since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that Operation Sindoor has only been paused. It may, therefore, erupt again. Picking through the smoke-and-mirrors accounts of the four-day clash of arms, one may still reach tentative conclusions and derive some lessons for the future. The aftermath of the four-day "war" should be read together with the observations I made post-Pahalgam on the strategic calculus driving Pakistani actions, especially the intent of the remarks made by Pakistan Army Chief Asif Munir ('Desperate steps in…