Following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, military posturing and preparedness have sharply escalated between India and Pakistan, with both nations conducting high-profile drills across air and maritime domains. In the central sector, the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched Exercise Aakraman, a large-scale wargame designed to enhance offensive capabilities and readiness for high-intensity conflict.
The exercise is led by frontline Rafale fighter jets, which are executing complex missions such as ground-attack profiles and electronic-warfare training across diverse terrains.
Notably, IAF assets have been repositioned from bases on the eastern flank to support these operations, and top pilots are conducting long-range strike missions and precision bombing on simulated enemy targets.
The exercise aims to provide combat-realistic scenarios, sharpening India’s deep-strike and rapid response capabilities in the face of heightened tensions.
Concurrently, Pakistan’s military authorities have announced a live-fire naval exercise and a surface-to-surface missile test off the Karachi coast, scheduled for April 24 to 25. The designated area in the Arabian Sea has been marked for unrestricted testing, signalling a show of force and operational readiness in response to the regional security situation.
In a significant naval development, the Indian Navy successfully conducted a medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) launch from the indigenously built destroyer INS Surat. The missile intercepted a high-speed, sea-skimming target at a range of approximately 70 km, demonstrating India’s growing expertise in indigenous warship design and advanced defensive systems.
The MRSAM, developed jointly with Israel, is capable of countering fighter aircraft, UAVs, helicopters, and cruise missiles, even in saturation attack scenarios, and features an Indian-built rocket motor and advanced terminal-phase control systems.
Further reinforcing its maritime posture, satellite imagery has confirmed the departure of India’s 44,000-tonne aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from its home port to the Arabian Sea, underlining a robust naval presence in the region.
On the ground, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi is scheduled to visit Srinagar to review security operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, the Indian Army has partially cleared its fleet of HAL Advanced Light Helicopter (Dhruv) gunships—previously grounded after a crash in January—for limited flying operations to support counter-terror missions in the Valley.
These coordinated military activities underscore the rapid escalation of operational readiness and deterrence measures by both India and Pakistan, reflecting the volatile security environment in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
