New Delhi | Over the year since the launch of Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, military leaders have used several analogies to describe its intricacies -- from "game of chess" implying uncertainty over the enemy's next move to "innings defeat" highlighting the magnitude of India's victory.

The military action was embedded with symbolism right from the start with its name, as well as the now widely recognised logo, conveying an unambiguous message.

Operation Sindoor was launched to avenge the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, with Indian forces conducting precision strikes on multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

After launching the operation, the Indian Army in a post on X at 1.51 am on May 7 had said, "#PahalgamTerrorAttack Justice is Served. Jai Hind!" It also carried a digital poster bearing a dark backdrop with the caption "OPERATION SINDOOR". One of the 'Os' in the word 'SINDOOR' was depicted using a bowl carrying 'sindoor' (vermilion).

Pakistan later also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.

The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, lasting nearly 88 hours, halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.

From Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan using sporting analogy to explain India's assessment of the conflict, to Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi citing a reference to a musical orchestra to illustrate the integrated action of the armed forces, the references to the nearly four-day conflict have been draped in manifold images, narratives and emotions over the past several months.

In June, in his address at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Gen Chauhan had said that Pakistan has been following an approach of bleeding India by a thousand cuts, but New Delhi drew a completely new redline against cross-border terrorism by conducting Operation Sindoor.

On questions over losses suffered by the Indian forces in the conflict, the CDS replied that "suppose you go into a cricket test match and you win by an 'innings defeat'..then there is no question of how many wickets and how many balls and how many players. It's an innings (defeat that has been inflicted)".

The top military commander's remarks were met with loud applause from the audience.

A few months later in August, Gen Dwivedi in his address at a function held at IIT-Madras, had said that Operation Sindoor was akin to playing a game of chess, as "we did not know" what would be the enemy's next move, and though the "test match stopped on the fourth day", it could have been a protracted conflict.

On the precision strikes on terror camps, he said it was "wide and deep where we hit the heartland, first time we hit the heartland, of course, our targets were the nursery and the masters".

This has never been done, and even Pakistan was not expecting that the heartland will be hit, and that's what came as a "shocker" to them, he said. "But, were we prepared for it, yes, we were prepared for it, to absorb the blow back which will come up."

Underlining that the operation was unlike any conventional mission and using the metaphor of the chess game, he said, "In Operation Sindoor what we did, we played chess. So, what does it mean? It means, we did not know what is the next move, the enemy is going to take, and what we are going to do. This is something, we call.. the grey zone.

Grey zone is that we are not going for the conventional operations. But, we are doing something, just short of a conventional operation." During the first press briefing on May 7, India had articulated its position, saying its response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 last year, was focused, proportionate, measured and non-escalatory.

On November 17, at an interactive session here, the Army chief had said, "On Operation Sindoor 1.0, I would say that the movie had not even begun, only a trailer was shown, and after 88 hours, the trailer was over." A few day later at a convocation ceremony of a Delhi-based management institute, Gen Dwivedi had described Operation Sindoor as a "trusted orchestra" where every musician played a "simultaneous or synergistic role", and that is how in 22 minutes, the Indian armed forces could destroy nine terror sites.

The Indian political leadership, after the Pahalgam attack, had clearly stated that "blood and water cannot flow together", and this was later echoed by several military leaders too -- referring to the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.

In June, during an interaction at an event held here, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC), Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit had said that "tremendous" damage was done to the adversary during the conflict, and those 88 hours of it tell a lot about it as "no self-respecting nation or armed forces will capitulate in such a short time".

On the first anniversary of the Pahalgam attack recently, the Army in a post on X said, for acts against India, "the response is assured", and carried a digital poster bearing an image portraying three armed soldiers in uniform standing next to each other against a backdrop that depicted a large red circle, with a caption "OPERATION SINDOOR CONTINUES...".