‘Riddle’, ‘Meghdoot,’ and now, 'Operation Sindoor' – decoding India’s military codenames against Pakistan

Operation Sindoor: India's strikes at terrorist camps in Pakistan, hitting 9 targets successfully in the exercise on Wednesday morning was called ‘Operation Sindoor' – a codename which was perhaps coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

‘Operation Sindoor’ came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Baisaran hill station. India had blamed Pakistan for the attack.

Wednesday's operation was the deepest strikes inside Pakistan's territory since 1971, according to CNN, successfully targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The operation's codename is ostensibly a reference to only men being singled out based on their faith before being killed in Pahalgam. Sindoor is the Hindi word for vermillion, which married Hindu women often apply to their foreheads. 'Operation Sindoor' was perhaps India's revenge on behalf of the widows of Pahalgam terror attack.

Unlike ‘Operation Sindoor’ where the emphasis was on victims, India's earlier military operation againts Pakistan had codenames that kind of inspired confidence within the armed forces.

Here are some examples of codenames used by India for military operations before ‘Operation Sindoor’ :

Operation Riddle, Ablaze– 1965 Indo-Pak War

‘Operation Riddle’ was the India's response to Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar and Grand Slam in 1965. Pakistan violated the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. In response, on 6 September, 1965, India launched 'Operation Riddle' in Lahore and Kasur.

‘Operation Ablaze’ was exercise by the Indian Army along the western border in May-June 1965, following Pakistani attack in the Rann of Kutch. It took place between the operations in the Rann of Kutch (Operation Kabaddi, April 1965) and Operation Gibraltar by Pakistan. The operation did not involve direct combat, it, however, demonstrated India’s readiness before the war broke out in August 1965.

Operation Cactus Lily, Trident - 1971 Indo-Pak War

‘Operation Cactus Lily’ is also known as The Meghna Heli Bridge. This was an air operation by India in December 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The operation was conducted by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force to cross the Meghna River and reach Dhaka.

‘Operation Trident’ was launched by the Indian Navy on port city of Karachi in Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In this operation anti-ship missiles where used for the first time during combat in the region. The operation was conducted on the night of 4–5 December and inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels and facilities.

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, also known as the third Indo-Pakistani war, occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 December 1971.

Operation Meghdoot – Siachen, 1984

‘Operation Meghdoot’ refers to the Indian army's operation to take full control of the Siachen Glacier in Ladakh. The operation was executed on the morning of 13 April 1984. It marks the highest battlefield in the world. The operation ended with Indian forces gaining control of the Siachen Glacier.

The Indian Army remains the first and only army in the world to have deployed tanks and other heavy ordnance at altitudes well over 5,000 meters.

Operation Vijay - 1999 Kargil War

India used ‘Operation Vijay’ codename for its May 1999 military operationto reclaim areas occupied by Pakistani forces during the Kargil War.

The Kargil Conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC).

The Indian Air Force acted jointly with the Indian Army to flush out the Pakistan Army and paramilitary troops from vacated Indian positions along the LoC, in what was designated as Operation Safed Sagar

Surgical strikes 2016

In September 2016, the Indian army conducted surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) against terrorist camps operating inside Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), inflicting heavy damage on terror training camps.

This operation, not codenamed for public, was in response to the Uri attack of 18 September 2016 in which four Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists from Pakistan attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters near the town of Uri in Jammu and Kashmir killing at keast 19 Indian soldiers and injuring several others

Operation Bandar – 2019 Balakot Air Strikes

'Operation Bandar' popularily known as the Balakot airstrike of 2019 was a bombing raid conducted by Indian warplanes on 26 February 2019 in Balakot, Pakistan, against training camp of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. The following day, Pakistan shot down an Indian warplane and took its pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, prisoner

Balakot was India's response to the 14 February 2019 attack by operatives of the Jaish-e-Mohammed on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 40 soldiers.