Operation Sindoor and the Global Contest Over Jammu & Kashmir: Legal, Diplomatic, and Narrative Dimensions in the Shadow of China

This article carries out a critical examination of Operation Sindoor in the broader framework of international contestation over Jammu & Kashmir, legal, diplomatic, and narrative dimensions prompted by China’s strategic interests. As a fresh-initiated initiative towards security and development in India, Operation Sindoor is a multi-faceted response to both internal insurgency and extraneous geopolitical pressures from China and Pakistan. The paper places this operation in the context of the changing international legal discourse on sovereignty, self-determination, and territorial integrity, highlighting India’s re-interpretation of Article 370 and its implications in international law. Diplomatically, the study looks at the strategies adopted by India, China, and Pakistan in multilateral fora such as the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as the three powers engage in a competition to build and dismantle global legitimacy over the region. Furthermore, the contest in narratives is analyzed through state-sponsored media, transnational advocacy networks, and social media, highlighting how China’s influence operations seek to globalize the Kashmir conflict while India seeks to localize it. Drawing from primary sources, official releases, and precedents in international law, this article argues that Jammu & Kashmir remains a strategic hot spot where the fields of law, diplomacy, and information warfare intersect, with Operation Sindoor an integral part of India’s grand campaign of counter-contestation against China’s encroaching hegemony in South Asia.