New Delhi: During Operation Sindoor “tremendous” damage was done to the adversary and those 88 hours of the conflict tell a lot about it as “no self-respecting nation or armed forces will capitulate in such a short time”, a top Indian military officer said on Saturday.
During an interaction at an event held here, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC), Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, said that modernisation of the Indian armed forces is “on track”, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently clearing the “execution model” to design and produce India’s ambitious fifth-generation stealth fighter jet — the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA).
To a question on reports that China will supply fifth-generation J-35 stealth jets to Pakistan, he said, “We are aware of the news, and we are following it closely”.
Dixit was speaking at a session ‘The Age of Modern Warfare’ hosted at the CNN News 18 Town Hall: The Defence Edition.
The tri-services officers also emphasised that the Indian military will have to build “defences and offences” against the kind of capabilities being developed by the Pakistani military.
Asked about the factors related to integration and jointness of the Indian military that led to success in Operation Sindoor, Air Marshal Dixit said, integration, jointness and coordination efforts were started way back after the 1999 Kargil conflict.
Thereafter, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) was set up, whose main job was to create jointness and integration, he added.
“This operation, which was undertaken, was a culmination of such long (period) of efforts, and gives us satisfaction that whatever we have been doing, we have been doing correctly,” the CISC said.
“The selection of targets, intelligence planning, joint planning, coordination, everything happened quite nicely,” he said on Operation Sindoor which was launched early on May 7 in retaliation against the Pahalgam attack, with precision strikes at several terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.
The Pakistan military then targeted Indian military installations and civilian areas, and India conducted counter-offensives against it subsequently, also under Operation Sindoor, and damaged several key air bases of Pakistan including Noor Khan and Rahim Yar Khan.
The nearly four-day military conflict came to a halt on May 10 evening after the two sides reached an understanding.
Asked what was the extent of damage caused on the Pakistan side during the conflict, the CISC said, “Tremendous amount of damage was caused”.
“Those 88 hours (of conflict)… that itself says a lot about the damage that has been caused, otherwise, no self-respecting nation or armed forces will capitulate in such a short time,” he said, without naming Pakistan.
Air Marshal Dixit said that the damage done during the conflict to the other side has been “clearly visible”, as seen on TV channel reports, and cited that the Indian military saw some of these images via satellite imagery, its own recce platforms and open source material which were later verified.
On a question about whether Kirana Hills in Pakistan was hit by Indian forces during the conflict, the officer said, “I don’t think so.”
He praised the indigenous platforms and air defence system deployed during the operation and emphasised that “we have not borrowed this model from anyone”, but rather it’s home-grown organically, and it was “highly effective”.
Asked whether the use of drones now will become the first response in the escalation ladder as seen during the four-day conflict, the CISC said, drones are a “new tool” but they will not replace the old ones, and will be used as per the requirements.
To a query on the armed forces’ view about the idea of the “new normal” being defined by the Indian government after Operation Sindoor, Air Marshal Dixit said, “Our threshold has been redefined.”
“Capabilities will be brought to bear whenever and at the place of our choosing,” he added.
The CISC also underlined that the level of deterrence has been set at a “very high level”.
About the LCA Mk-2 platform and concerns over delayed timelines, he said, LCA Mk-2 is a “wonderful platform”, while adding that delay is part and parcel of the process.
On lessons drawn from Operation Sindoor for the Indian military, the CISC said, non-linearity, simultaneity of response and long-range vectors were key lessons.
Also, the “idea of contiguous threat was known to us beforehand”, and plans were made catering for it, he added.
On the future course, the CISC said, joint training and integration in an environment “where the fog of war is there” along with future warfare courses will equip the Indian military for the road ahead.
