Operation Sindoor, India’s missile strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), has shifted public perception in favour of Islamabad in PoK, according to an international media report from the region.

Much of it is propelled by fears of more Indian attacks, according to The Washington Post.

After US president Donald Trump announced the ceasefire between India and Pakistan – that Delhi insists is an understanding arrived entirely bilaterally – “some locals took to the streets to celebrate the truce with India as a victory for Islamabad — a rare public expression of Pakistani nationalism in” PoK, the Post reported.

“Even pro-independence activists here have shifted their tone,” said the report from Kotli in PoK, one of the nine sites India struck.

Pakistan’s response “during this limited war was widely appreciated,” the article quoted Muhammad Rafiq Dar, spokesman for the pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front as saying.

The article also noted large-scale protests in PoK this month over rising prices of food and electricity and frequent power cuts even as Pakistan leverages PoK’s “abundant water supply for hydropower projects”.

The fear of more Indian attacks has led to almost everyone abandoning their anti-Pakistan sentiments, the article quoted several people as saying.

Pakistan organised a press trip for international media on Saturday to show damage from Indian attacks.

“It was unclear how extensively locals were prepared for the visit, or how freely they could speak their minds. Interviews were conducted independently by The Washington Post, and many of the sentiments voiced on the ground were echoed in more than half a dozen additional phone interviews with residents in the area,” the Post said.

The Post also noted that in PoK, “civil activism is curbed by restrictions — all elected officials need to pledge loyalty to Pakistan, which limits the role of pro-independence groups and has deepened frustrations.”