India’s Renewed Foreign Policy: Cross-Border Retaliation, Engaging Non-State Actor and Diplomatic Outreach

With the use of drones, predictive surveillance and precision-guided munitions, India has set a new standard for military confrontations in South Asia. India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, downgrading of diplomatic ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan and resumption of relations with the Taliban reflect the flexible and pragmatic, interest-driven approach of India’s foreign policy.

In the wake of the brutal April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack, India unveiled a recalibrated foreign policy, exemplified in Operation Sindoor’s precision trans-border strikes on terror hubs. Concurrently, India engaged in pragmatic diplomacy with non-state actors like the Taliban and struck back diplomatically and economically at countries allying themselves with Pakistan, exercising a new assertive, moral, and interest-driven doctrine.

A tectonic shift in the response to cross-border terrorism

For decades, India has responded to every cross-border attack with intense negotiations, international appeals and Track-II dialogues. But the Pahalgam attack has completely changed the rules of the game and the approach to dealing with cross-border terrorism. The Cabinet Committee on Security approved Operation Sindoor, which precisely targeted the nine targets inside Pakistani territory through well-coordinated air and ground operations, destroyed the infrastructures of terror hubs and took out hundreds of terrorists, including those in Bahawalpur and Muridke, without attacking military installations or civilian areas. This has been a tectonic shift in India’s response as it has decided to directly target and eliminate the roots of terror, even if it has to cross the border and enter enemy territory to do so. This is a clear message to the world that India will not hold back and will not hesitate to strike back if its sovereignty or its citizens are threatened.

Precise and ethical attack

Operation Sindoor was not a full war attack on a nation, but on the centres of terror and infrastructure without harming military installations or civilians. It demonstrated operational ethics, restraint and a precise, targeted attack on the roots of terrorists, in stark contrast to Pakistan, which targeted civilians in Poonch, Jammu, killing 16 civilians. This operation has underscored the new model that India has created to combat cross-border terrorism, which can serve as an example to other democracies suffering from terrorism that one can retaliate without indiscriminately bombing, killing innocent civilians and razing entire cities to the ground.

Pragmatic engagement with non-state actors

One of the dramatic changes in India’s foreign policy has been its engagement with the Taliban. After 2021, when the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan, India was reluctant to engage with the Taliban. But gradually, India started accepting the geopolitical reality and started participating in the Taliban’s regional meetings from 2024. The turning point came when the Taliban condemned the Pahalgam attack and assured India of its support in punishing the perpetrators. India, thanking the Taliban for their stance, assured them of further humanitarian aid, development projects and investment in education. Recently, as a gesture of gratitude, India provided food to 5000 Afghan families deported by Pakistan and even allowed 160 Afghan trucks of dry fruits and medicinal plants to cross the closed Wagah border, indicating a development in trade. This tectonic shift to involve even non-stakeholders in the security sector reflects a major shift in India’s foreign policy. It seems that New Delhi has decided to fight terrorism if it has to go a step further to get the help of a non-state actor. New Delhi needs the support of the Taliban to keep Pakistan in check so that Pakistan cannot use its land for Pakistan-sponsored terrorist organisations.

Tit for Tat

In the context of the economic and strategic retaliation, India has not hesitated to retaliate against the countries that supported Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack. Instead of attacking Pakistan, countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan sided with Pakistan in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

India has recalibrated its approach and is using its economic and strategic partnerships to take action against those who undermine its security. It is well known that Pakistan has used Turkish drones to attack India. In return, India has assured Armenia, Turkey’s regional adversary, of military supplies. In addition, Indian tour operators have cancelled all their plans, and the Indian Trade Association has boycotted Turkish goods. With these diplomatic moves, India is showing the world that it will not engage in any way with countries that attempt to undermine its security and sovereignty.

Global diplomatic operations

Shaping the security narrative in an unprecedented move, the Indian government is sending several groups of ministers and diplomats around the world to shape the security narrative that India has developed in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. They are to reach out to the world and convey the message that the objective of Operation Sindoor was precise and calculated- it was to target the terror centres and kill terrorists and their infrastructure, and not to wage wars, devastate nations or kill innocent civilians. Many countries, including Britain and other major powers, have supported the Indian retaliatory strike as they recognise that the attack was justified to maintain peace in the region and protect the country’s sovereignty and its citizens’ security.

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India’s response has reshaped the security environment. The India-Pakistan confrontation escalated to a new level, but India’s restraint in attacking only the terror centres and infrastructure and eventually accepting a ceasefire prevented a major conflict. This also shows India’s responsible behaviour towards its adversaries. With the use of drones, predictive surveillance and precision-guided munitions, India has set a new standard for military confrontations in South Asia. India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, downgrading of diplomatic ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan and resumption of relations with the Taliban reflect the flexible and pragmatic, interest-driven approach of India’s foreign policy. India has created a new template for its foreign policy.

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