Indian Air Force presented a detailed air strike plan to attack Pakistan after just 48 hours of the Pahalgam terror attack on April, 22, 2025, in which 26 Hindu tourists were killed by terrorists after identifying their religion. The operational details were shared by Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, during the NDTV Defence Summit.
In a swift response to the ghastly terror attack, a high-level meeting was held, a day after the attack, among the top military officials to consider possible options for retaliation. On April 24, 2025, the Air Force was ready with its air strike plan. Thereafter, on April 29, 2025, targets were shortlisted and the planning to began. Date and time of the strikes was decided on May 5, 2025 and between 6th and 7th May, the strikes were carried out.
Nine terror sites were finalised under the strike plan. Seven of these sites were assigned to the Indian Army for artillery and cross-LoC operations, and the remaining two sites, which were -the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters at Muridke (30 km from the international border) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters at Bahawalpur (100 km inside Pakistan), were given to the Indian Air Force for carrying out deep precision strikes.
Nine targets were finalised: seven were assigned to the Army for artillery and cross-LoC operations, while two deep-strike objectives were given to the Air Force — the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters at Muridke (30 km from the international border) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters at Bahawalpur (100 km inside Pakistan).
