Bold Move, New Chapter: Rajnath Singh Calls Out Operation Sindoor in Rajya Sabha

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh emphasised the importance of Operation Sindoor, saying that it has changed the game for India and that its citizens will no longer be "vulnerable citizens" of a "soft country" but will instead be proud citizens.

Speaking about Operation Sindoor to the Upper House, the Defense Minister stated,

"Op Sindoor has turned out to be a game-changer. The future significance of Op Sindoor is that a citizen of India is no longer a vulnerable citizen of some soft country, but rather a common Indian is now a proud citizen of a strong India."

In order to explain Pakistan's strategy against terrorism, the Union Minister cited game theory. Singh referred to prominent Congressman P. Chidambaram when he said,

"There is one theory of economics, that is "Game Theory" which is possibly is known by Chidambaram Sahab. It suggests that when an act involves low cost and high return, people tend to continue or enjoy it."

He claimed that terrorist organizations and Pakistan had used this strategy against India.

"Pakistan and terrorists have always targeted India under this game theory. But under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the government has decided that we will change this play of calculus for Pakistan. We are determined to turn terrorism into a cost-based misadventure for them. So that if something happens to even one of our Indian citizens, it should be in the minds of terrorists that we will root out their entire terror base."

Singh criticized the opposition for challenging the government on Operation Sindoor and said that the opposition must also come up with alternative plans of action and policies. Singh said,

"Yesterday I had mentioned in Lok Sabha that in democracy the opposition is entrusted with the responsibility by the people to ask appropriate questions to the government, but they also have the responsibility of proposing alternative policy or action plan if they do not agree with the Centre's policy."

Operation Sindoor has a "comma" rather than a "full stop," the defense minister reaffirmed.

"If we look at the results of Op Sindoor, we did whatever the government felt was right and killed more than 100 terrorists. Even today there is only viraam (pause) on Operation Sindoor, not a purn viraam (complete rest). There is a comma, not a full stop," he said.

Operation Sindoor signifies a change from symbolic retaliation to long-term deterrence. India has indicated that it will no longer tolerate terrorism with small steps; instead, it plans to increase the price for those who commit it. The current leadership is reinforcing the message by focusing on logistics: India can maintain long-duration operations and quickly reach remote theaters. This creates new opportunities, such as quick reaction and strategic deterrence.