Nationwide Blackouts Simulate Emergency Response As India Launches Deepest Strikes In Pakistan Since 1971

May 07, 2025: Several Indian states experienced scheduled blackouts on Wednesday as part of a massive nationwide civil defence mock drill initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The coordinated exercise aimed to test India’s emergency preparedness in the wake of heightened security challenges.

Major landmarks including Rashtrapati Bhavan and Vijay Chowk in Delhi, Raj Bhavan in Patna, and sites across Barmer (Rajasthan), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Surat (Gujarat), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), and Patna (Bihar) participated by switching off lights, simulating conditions during emergency blackouts.

Earlier in the day, mock drills were also conducted in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Gwalior, and Jaipur, evaluating regional emergency and security response mechanisms.

This large-scale simulation comes just hours after Operation Sindoor, a bold and precise strike by the Indian Armed Forces targeting terrorist infrastructure inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The operation, carried out in the early hours of Wednesday, was a direct retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians, including one Nepali national.

In a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi outlined the strategic success of the operation. Wing Commander Singh confirmed that nine terror sites were destroyed, with the selection of targets carefully made to avoid civilian casualties and infrastructure damage.

Col Qureshi shared footage from the strikes, including attacks on Muridke, a notorious training ground linked to David Headley and Ajmal Kasab, key figures in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Other targets included Sarjal camp in Sialkot, Markaz Ahle Hadith, Barnala, Markaz Abbas in Kotli, and Mehmoona Joya camp in Sialkot.

Foreign Secretary Misri revealed that the brutal nature of the Pahalgam attack, involving point-blank executions in front of families, was intended to derail the return to peace in Kashmir. He labelled the latest strikes as India’s deepest military incursion into Pakistani territory since the 1971 war, marking a significant escalation in India’s counter-terrorism strategy.