In a first in 54 years, India hits Pakistan's Punjab heartland

The Indian military has struck at several locations across Pakistan, including what is the first military strike on the Pakistani side of Punjab since the 1971 war, 54 years ago.

The key cities on the Pakistani side of Punjab are Bahawalpur and Muridke.

This is a significant move because earlier strikes or skirmishes, including the Kargil conflict, did not inflict any damage on the Pakistani side of Punjab, which is the heartland of that country.

The Pakistan military and the ruling class hail largely from the Pakistani side of Punjab.

In 1999, the Kargil conflict was largely restricted to the Ladakh region, around an axis of 168 kilometers. Also, later, when Operation Parakram was launched after the attack on the Parliament in 2001, the Indian Army was fully mobilized and the Indian Air Force was put on alert. However, no attack took place.

Again, in 2016, the surgical strikes following the Uri terror attack were also in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. None of them were in Punjab. And in 2019, after the terror attack at Pulwama, the airstrikes were in Balakot, which is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, not in the Pakistani side of Punjab. So this is hitting the heart of Pakistan after 54 years, in reaction to a terror attack at Pahalgam in April 2022 that killed 26 people.