Operation Sindoor: Pakistan was Rattled by India Firing BrahMos Missiles
NEW DELHI, July 3: With several Pakistani leaders having admitted to have been severely punished by the Indian armed forces during the “Operation Sindoor” in early May, a top Pakistani politician has now admitted that his country’s military had only 30 to 45 seconds to determine whether a BrahMos cruise missile fired by India carried a nuclear warhead.
Rana Sanaullah, adviser to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, also pointed out that the risk of a nuclear war weighed heavily during the India-Pakistan conflict, which broke out after Pakistan-linked terrorists killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
“When India fired BrahMos at Nur Khan airbase, Pakistan’s military had only 30-45 seconds to analyse whether the incoming missile may have a nuclear warhead. To decide anything on this in just 30 seconds was a dangerous situation,” Mr Sanaullah said. Nur Khan is a major airbase of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in Rawalpindi’s Chaklala.
“I am not saying that they did good by not using a nuclear warhead, but at the same time the people on this side could have misunderstood it also, leading to the launch of the first nuclear weapon that could spark a global nuclear war,” he added.
India struck multiple Pakistani air bases during ‘Operation Sindoor’, damaging runways, hangars, and buildings, causing a massive blow to Pakistan. Satellite images showed extensive damage in Sargodha, Nur Khan (Chaklala), Bholari, Jacobabad, Sukkur, and Rahim Yar Khan. It was also not the first time India struck Nur Khan. During the 1971 war, the 20 Squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) targeted the air base with their Hawker Hunters.
The Indian military destroyed multiple camps of terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen, and killed more than 100 terrorists during ‘Operation Sindoor’. After India’s overnight operations, the Pakistani Army launched drones and missiles at western parts of India, which were successfully intercepted. India then hit selected military targets deep inside Pakistani territory.
Rawalpindi and Mr Sanaullah appeared to admit that the ballistic missile threw Pakistan into panic mode and raised fears of a full-scale nuclear conflict. Sanaullah claimed that although India’s BrahMos missile did not carry a nuclear payload, the lack of clarity at the time could have led to catastrophic consequences.
The PML-N leader also credited former US President Donald Trump for allegedly stepping in to mediate during the crisis. “There needs to be an independent evaluation of Trump’s role,” he said. India has consistently denied any third-party involvement and maintains that it was Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) who first reached out to de-escalate the situation.
(Manas Dasgupta)
