📅 May 8, 2025, Post 1: Operation Sindoor and the Evolution of India’s Military Narratives | Mains Essay / Target IAS-26 MCQs Attached: A complete Package, Dear Aspirants!
Operation Sindoor and the Evolution of India’s Military Narratives
NEWS DROP — PETAL 001
🗓️ Date: May 8, 2025
🪖 Thematic Focus: Defence | India-Pakistan Relations | Military History
🌿 Intro Whisper:
Not all battles are named for the battlefield; some are named for the bloodline, the memory, the meaning.
🔍 Key Highlights:
- Operation Sindoor:
- Marks a symbolic shift in military nomenclature from mythological or conventional names to emotionally resonant titles.
- Reflects a human-centric approach, honouring the spirit of sacrifice.
- Past Indian Military Operations against Pakistan: 🟥 1965 – Operation Ablaze & Riddle
- Operation Ablaze: Pre-emptive mobilization post Rann of Kutch tension.
- Operation Riddle: Counter-offensive to Operation Gibraltar and Grand Slam, targeting Lahore & Kasur.
- Culminated in the Tashkent Agreement.
- Cactus Lily: Air assault crossing the Meghna River, leading to Dhaka.
- Trident & Python: Naval strikes on Karachi Port, crippling Pakistan’s navy.
- Led to creation of Bangladesh.
- Preemptive strike in the Siachen Glacier.
- India secured key heights before Pakistan could act.
- Vijay: Army-led recapture of Kargil peaks.
- Safed Sagar: IAF’s airstrikes to flush intruders.
- Regained full control of Indian territory.
- In retaliation for the Uri attack.
- Targeted terror camps across the LoC.
- Airstrike on Balakot after Pulwama terror attack.
- First air attack across LoC since 1971.
📘 GS Paper Mapping:
- GS Paper 2: India-Pakistan Relations; International Security
- GS Paper 3: Defence Preparedness; Military Reforms
- Essay: “The Story of a Nation Through Its Code Names”
🌠 Closing Thought:
Names carry memory, memory carries history—and in these operations, we find the pulse of a nation that remembers not just how it fought, but why.
Target IAS-26: Daily MCQs :
📌 Prelims Practice MCQs
Topic:
MCQ 1: Type-1 — “How many of the above statements are correct?”
Which of the following statements regarding India’s military operations against Pakistan are correct?
1. Operation Meghdoot was conducted to preempt Pakistan’s presence in the Siachen Glacier in 1984.
2. Operation Safed Sagar was carried out by the Indian Navy during the 1999 Kargil conflict.
3. Operation Cactus Lily involved crossing the Meghna River during the 1971 war.
4. Operation Vijay was the code name for India’s military operation during the 1999 Kargil War.
A) Only two
B) Only three
C) All four
D) Only one
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation
✅ Correct Answer: B) Only three
🧠 Explanation:
1) Correct – Operation Meghdoot was launched in 1984 to secure key heights in Siachen.
2) Incorrect – Operation Safed Sagar was conducted by the Indian Air Force, not the Navy.
3) Correct – Operation Cactus Lily involved the Meghna heli-bridge assault in East Pakistan.
4) Correct – Operation Vijay was India’s military campaign to reclaim Kargil posts in 1999.
MCQ 2: Type-2 — Two-Statement Assertion
Consider the following statements:
1. Operation Bandar was India’s cross-border airstrike on Balakot after the Pulwama attack in 2019.
2. Operation Riddle was launched during the 1971 Indo-Pak War.
A) Only 1 is correct
B) Only 2 is correct
C) Both are correct
D) Neither is correct
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation
✅ Correct Answer: A) Only 1 is correct
🧠 Explanation:
1) Correct – Operation Bandar was launched in response to the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
2) Incorrect – Operation Riddle was part of the 1965 war, not the 1971 conflict.
MCQ 3: Type-3 — “Which of the above statements is/are correct?”
With respect to India’s defense history, consider the following:
1. Operation Trident and Python were naval strikes on Karachi during the 1971 war.
2. Operation Ablaze involved combat engagements in the Kashmir Valley in 1965.
3. Operation Vijay refers to India’s 1999 campaign in Kargil.
4. Operation Sindoor is noted for shifting toward emotionally symbolic naming.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
A) 1, 3 and 4 only
B) 2, 3 and 4 only
C) 1, 2 and 3 only
D) All four
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation
✅ Correct Answer: A) 1, 3 and 4 only
🧠 Explanation:
1) Correct – Both naval operations targeted Pakistan’s Karachi port in 1971.
2) Incorrect – Operation Ablaze was preemptive mobilization, not direct combat.
3) Correct – Operation Vijay reclaimed Indian peaks in the Kargil War.
4) Correct – Operation Sindoor reflects a more human, emotional narrative.
MCQ 4: Type-4 — Direct Factual Question
What was India’s military objective under Operation Meghdoot in 1984?
A) Reclaiming captured posts in Kargil
B) Crossing the Meghna River into East Pakistan
C) Destroying terror camps in Balakot
D) Securing heights in the Siachen Glacier
🌀 Didn’t get it? Click here (▸) for the Correct Answer & Explanation.
✅ Correct Answer: D) Securing heights in the Siachen Glacier
🧠 Explanation:
Operation Meghdoot was a preemptive Indian operation to occupy strategic points in Siachen before Pakistan could act.
