Chandigarh: If Pakistan or terror organisations backed by it carry out any terror strike again, “our reply this time will be more severe” than before, Lt Gen Manoj Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command, said on Saturday, noting that Operation Sindoor is continuing.
“Operation Sindoor was not only a fight but was also our preparation to counter any hostile attempt by Pakistan. Our readiness still continues. There is no stoppage in it,” he told reporters here.
Under Operation Sindoor, the Indian armed forces carried out pre-dawn missile strikes on May 7 on “nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir”. The targets included the “Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base in Muridke”.
The operation was launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. Following the Indian action, Pakistan launched an offensive against Indian military targets and carried out shelling in border areas for the next three days, but received a crushing response from the Indian armed forces, which struck its key airbases.
Addressing the media on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebrations of victory in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, Lt Gen Katiyar said that after the ceasefire on May 10, the situation on the ground is calm. The senior army officer hoped that Pakistan would not indulge in any misadventure again.
“But we do not have full faith in it. We feel that it is possible that Pakistan or its terror organisations may carry out any terror strike again, then we have no option other than giving a reply in a befitting manner. We have clearly stated that our reply this time will be more severe than the earlier one. For this, our Operation Sindoor still continues,” he said.
Lt Gen Katiyar said the main purpose behind the Pahalgam terror attack was to disturb the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“With the way this terror attack took place, select killings took place, its other motive was to foment communalism in India. It is a big challenge for us,” he said, adding that the neighbouring country would continue to attempt to disturb India’s secular character.
Referring to the 1965 war, Katiyar said, “We learnt a lot of things from the 1965 war — how to keep coordination between the Army and the Air Force, how to do the planning of defensive and offensive operations.”
The biggest thing we learnt from the 1965 war is that technology is important, but the man behind the machine was more important, he said.
In that war, Pakistan had tanks and fighter planes with good technology, “but we registered victory as the motivation of our soldiers was very high”, he said.
Replying to a question, he said there are certain things that do not change in a war. “Of them, which is more important is that we have to destroy the enemy and capture enemy areas, and it will ensure victory,” he said.
To another question, he said drones will be used on a big scale in future conflicts. “You saw in Operation Sindoor and (drones) will be used in the next conflicts,” he said.
As drones were being used in many other fields, he said, “talent within the military was being utilised for making drones for future conflicts. Drones are to be used in every field. And the Army is also adapting drones on a very big level.”
