India hit nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor two weeks after the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians. An Austrian war expert Tom Cooper has stated that India is the clear winner in the recent conflict between the neighbours.
Air war historian and expert Tom Cooper claimed that in the latest Indo-Pak conflict, following the ghastly events of the Pahalgam terror attack, India has emerged as a clear winner, adding that it was Pakistan who asked for a ceasefire.
India and Pakistan got involved in a war-like situation, following the terror attack on April 22 in the Baisaran village of Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians. India launched Operation Sindoor to target nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan retaliated with its military and attempted to target the Indian military and civilians in a four-day battle between the two neighbours. India responded and hit 11 airbases in Pakistan before a ceasefire was called on May 10.
Tom Cooper, an Austrian combat aviation analyst and author, called this a win for India. “In this case: a clear-cut victory for India. No surprise Islamabad ‘sounded’ for a ‘cease-fire’,” Cooper wrote.
He also stated that Pakistan had no missiles that could match India’s BrahMos and SCALP-EG and that it had yet to develop long-range missiles.
Cooper dissected India’s response to Pakistan’s military retaliation on May 10. “With at least two of PAF’s HQ-9s knocked out two days earlier, and the PAF suppressed enough to stop shooting PL-15s into the Indian airspace, in a matter of three hours the IAF Su-30MKI-, Mirage 2000- and Rafale-crews found enough opportunities to deliver a few really heavy blows,” he wrote.
India and Pakistan agreed to a mutual understanding on May 10 after the Pakistan DGMO reached out to the Indian DGMO and asked for a ceasefire, as confirmed by the Indian Armed Forces.
“The DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) of Pakistan called the DGMO of India at 15.35 hours earlier this afternoon. It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land, air and sea with effect from 1700 hours IST,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar also gave his reactions to the understanding. “India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.