Elaborating on Operation Sindoor, CDS Chauhan said that state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan has to stop and that the country should not be able to hold India hostage to terrorism. “India is not going to live under the shadow of terror and nuclear blackmail,” General Chauhan said
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan delivers a lecture on 'Future Wars and Warfare' at Savitribai Phule Pune University, in Pune, on Tuesday. PIC/PTI
Professional militaries are not affected by temporary losses as the overall outcomes are much more important than such setbacks, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday, during an address at the Savitribai Phule Pune University.
The CDS also stated that Pakistan has been following an approach of bleeding India by thousand cuts, however, following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, New Delhi drew a completely new redline against cross-border terrorism by conducting the Operation Sindoor. He was making the reference to a speech by Pakistan General Asim Munir, just weeks before the terror attack, in which the latter was "spewing venom" against India and Hindus just weeks.
“What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards victims,” the CDS said.
The top military commander also seemed unfazed about the criticism against him for acknowledging that India lost an unspecified number of combat jets during the initial phase of the operation. "When I was asked [in an earlier interview] about losses on our side, I said these are not important as results and how you act are important,” he remarked.
It would be not very correct to talk about losses and numbers, he added, responding to a question.
“In war, even if there are setbacks, you need to maintain your morale,” he said adding losses are not important but outcomes are.
The CDS highlighted various elements of war, including politics and violence, and noted that in Operation Sindoor too, war and politics were happening as a parallel kind of phenomenon.
Elaborating on Operation Sindoor, CDS Chauhan said that state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan has to stop and that the country should not be able to hold India hostage to terrorism.
“India is not going to live under the shadow of terror and nuclear blackmail,” General Chauhan said.
The Indian Armed Forces carried out very deliberate precision strikes on Pakistani targets and some of them were as narrow as two metres, he further said, speaking on India's military offensives.
Explaining the process of the understanding on cessation of hostilities, CDS Chauhan claimed that while Pakistan planned to carry out its counter operations against India for 48 hours, it folded up in about just eight hours.
“Around 1 am on May 10, Pakistan aimed to get India to its knees in 48 hours as multiple attacks were launched. They thought it would continue for 48 hours but it folded up in about eight hours and they wanted to talk,” he said, highlighting the impact of the Indian strikes.
Pakistan’s call for cessation of military action stemmed from realisation that it will suffer more if its operation continues, General Chauhan added.
“When the request for talks and de-escalation came from Pakistan, we did accept it,” the CDS said.
On India's overall approach, General Chauhan said, "We have raised the bar; we have connected terror to water, we have drawn a new line of military operation against terror."
(With PTI inputs)
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