Nearly six decades after Pakistan's first army dictator, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, tested the defence of India in the Rann of Kutch, the region is once more in the limelight. The Indian armed forces have commenced large multi-service joint manoeuvres, Trishul 2025, along the coast of Gujarat from October 30.
The Army has deployed a full division comprising tanks, fighter aircraft, and missiles, with the Navy deploying frigates and destroyers. The Air Force has also participated in the exercise with Su-30MKI and Rafale fighter jets. An India Notice to Airmen (Notam) defines the Rann of Kutch as the focal point of these exercises covering northwest Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan up to November 10.
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Sir Creek: The unresolved conflict
The Rann of Kutch - a vast salt marsh along the Gujarat and Sind provinces in Pakistan border has once again become a potential flashpoint. India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, during his October 2 address at Bhuj, said, “Pakistan's recent expansion of military infrastructure reveals its intentions. Any misadventure in Sir Creek will invite a response so strong it would change both history and geography."
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These remarks came after intelligence reports that Pakistan's attempts to construct mini-cantonments and emergency landing strips near Sir Creek as efforts to clear intent to alter facts on the ground. "Pakistan Navy chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf had visited frontier positions near the creek on October 25, promising to defend “every inch of our maritime frontiers from Sir Creek to Jiwani".
Whispers of 1965's Operation Desert Hawk
As per the India Today report, Ayub Khan had begun Operation Desert Hawk in the Kutch region in 1965, trying out Patton tanks and Sabre jets provided by the US, before raising the stakes in Jammu and Kashmir. An UN-brokered ceasefire in July 1965 ended the fighting that month but was resumed in August with Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar and Operation Grand Slam. Both were unsuccessful, leading to India's counterattack and Ayub's eventual downfall.
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Strategic stakes in Sir Creek
The report further says, even though the 1968 UN tribunal awarded 90% of the Rann of Kutch to India, Sir Creek was left unsettled. The 96-kilometre tidal channel is of significant economic and strategic importance, influencing maritime boundaries and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) that are oil, gas, and fish-abundant. With diplomatic talks frozen since the 2016 Uri attack, the fresh military mobilisation risks reviving old tensions and Sir Creek, the next big flashpoint between India and Pakistan.
