Will PM Modi Get Back Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir As Revenge For Pahalgam?
Indira Gandhi’s legacy was breaking Pakistan into two in 1971 and creating Bangladesh. Will Modi’s legacy be getting back PoK? What are India's big weapons?

Will there be a full-scale retribution, a military foray into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), to claim it, or a surgical strike at the heart of the Pakistani Army?
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After Uri, we saw the ground surgical strike in 2016 on terror launchpads, and the 2019 Balakot air strike after Pulwama. All eyes are now on how India will punish Pakistan for sending terrorists to kill 26 unarmed tourists in Pahalgam. Something big is on the anvil.
India has the arsenal and capability to do what it wants – and Pakistan walking away from the Shimla Agreement now opens India’s doors to walk into PoK, and claim it. This could be Narendra Modi’s legacy, as splitting Pakistan into two was Indira Gandhi’s.
With the Rafales and Brahmos supersonic missiles stationed on our aircraft carriers, India can launch a deadly strike on Pakistan even from its own territory.
“Terrorists who have carried out the Pahalgam attack and those who conspired for this attack will get a punishment bigger than they could have ever imagined. Ab atankiyon ki bachi kuchi zameen ko bhi mitti mein milane ka samay aa gaya hai" – were the strong and angry words from Prime Minister Modi last week, promising big drastic action against Pakistan.
Perpetrators, conspirators of Pahalgam terror attack will get a befitting reply, says #PMModi@AmanKayamHai_ decodes PM’s #MannKiBaat#PahalgamTerroristAttack #Kashmir #IndiaPakistan | @Kritsween pic.twitter.com/YDd2KJV5Lo— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 27, 2025
GO AFTER PAK ARMY
One thing is clear. India considers the Pakistan army and its chief Asim Munir as the chief accused in the Pahalgam terror case, especially because of the statement Munir gave in the days leading up to the terror attack.
India has clear evidence of cross-border linkages of the attackers and their association with the Pakistani state and training in Pakistan. The foreign envoys have been briefed on the same by Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
On target hence must be the Pakistan army this time, not just the terror camps. India must go after the fountainhead of terror, not just the assembly line.
Several terrorists have been taken out by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan in the past few years. India also has a close ally in Israel which has shown capabilities through Mossad to conduct covert strikes on its enemies. India is also armed with support from nearly every major world power to avenge the Pahalgam terror strike.
In the words of the Prime Minister, “India will identify, track, and punish every terrorist, and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth."
Soon, we could find the Prime Minister’s words ringing true.
INDIA’S 5 BIG WEAPONS
- India now has the Rafales equipped with the French SCALP missiles which give us air combat superiority in the region over Pakistan’s F-16s.
- India has the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile system with a range of 290 km and speed of 2.8 Mach — India’s Navy destroyers are equipped with it.
- India has aircraft carriers such as INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya; Pakistan has none.
- India has MH 60R helicopters, like the one used by the US in the Osama Bin Laden operation, which are used from our Naval ships. We also have the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers.
- India has three squadrons of the Russian-made S-400 defence system that is capable of engaging targets at ranges of up to 400 km, can intercept fighter jets, ballistic missiles, and drones, making it a vital part of India’s defence arsenal.
All this adds significantly to India’s capability to punish Pakistan since the 2019 Balakot strike. From the air to the ground, to the skies.
Sample this: In 2019, India responded to the Pulwama terror attack with a bold airstrike deep inside Pakistan’s Balakot. The Indian Air Force used Mirage 2000 fighter jets armed with Spice-2000 bombs to strike terror camps.
The next day, a dramatic dogfight unfolded. Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a Pakistani F-16 before his own MiG-21 was hit. He was captured, later returned, and honoured with the Vir Chakra.
#BreakingNews: NIA reaches residence of Pahalgam victim Bitan Adhikary#PahalgamTerroristAttack #Kashmir #KashmirAttack #IndiaPakistan | @Kritsween pic.twitter.com/PLhkF4kMQr— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 27, 2025
But the Balakot strike exposed a gap—India needed air superiority fighters that could dominate the region and modern defence systems to shoot down enemy jets entering our territory. Enter the Rafale and S-400 defence system.
Between 2020 and 2023, India acquired 36 Rafale jets from France. Now stationed at Ambala and Hashimara, these cutting-edge fighters come loaded with SCALP precision missiles and Meteor BVR missiles, giving India unmatched strike capabilities up to 300 kilometres and beyond.
With Rafale, India’s skies have never been better guarded.
And with the S-400 system from Russia deployed on our borders, a repeat of Pakistan’s offence in the skies in 2019 can be countered.
In the seas, we now have INS Vikrant since 2022 in addition to INS Vikramaditya, making us among only a handful of countries with multiple aircraft carriers that can carry out carrier-based air operations and long-range strikes.
They are equipped with the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile system, the MH 60R helicopters and MiG-29K fighter jets.
This is a decisive edge for India in naval aviation and sea control—capabilities Pakistan currently does not possess or even aim to match directly.
WILL MODI GET BACK POK?
Pakistan’s decision to put the Shimla Agreement on hold is a major gamechanger that could cost Pakistan.
This is because the LoC is no longer sacred. The LoC, established post-1971 war, was meant to be inviolable under the Shimla Agreement. With Pakistan stepping away from it, India is no longer bound to respect it.
This could lead to greater military freedom for India along the LoC, potentially crossing it during military operations.
Pakistan violated the LoC during the Kargil conflict in 1999, and India exercised restraint by not crossing it. However, without the Shimla Agreement, India now can cross into PoK, all the way up to Afghanistan.
By putting the Shimla Agreement on hold, Pakistan has essentially opened the door for India to alter the LoC status, which could lead to more intense military encounters with the LoC becoming a volatile and unpredictable line.
The Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have often said that the only unfinished business with Pakistan is the return of PoK to India.
India has already fired the diplomatic salvos by putting a pause on the Indus Water Treaty and saying we will make Pakistan struggle for every drop of water.
Putting the Indus River Treaty in cold storage gives India the opportunity to fast-track and leverage its hydroelectric projects such as Kishanganga, Ratle and Pakal Dul in Jammu and Kashmir, and not use them just as energy initiatives but also as levers of strategic pressure.
Pakistan is clearly rattled, and worried. Pakistan has called it an act of war.
Indira Gandhi’s legacy was breaking Pakistan into two in 1971 and creating Bangladesh. Will Modi’s legacy be getting back PoK?
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