New Delhi: Operation Sindoor “achieved the objectives” it was launched for and was paused to avoid a prolonged conflict, which would have hurt the domestic economy, several defence experts said on Sunday.
Several retired army officers shared their thoughts as a video of an address by Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi at a recent IIT-Madras event was widely reported and shared on social media, in which he shared some intricacies of the military action.
The Army chief used the analogies of chess and cricket to emphasise the key aspect of the operation launched in May on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
The operation led to a four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan that was halted after an understanding was reached between the two sides on May 10.
“Operation Sindoor achieved the objectives it was launched for, which was to decimate terror camps identified by our military and send a clear message to terrorists and those who promote them,” Lt Gen Shankar Prasad (retd) told PTI Videos here.
The objective was not to throw India into a long-drawn war, he said.
“Any war causes damage to the economy of the countries that engage in a conflict. Had India continued to prolong the conflict, would it not have hurt our economy, which is growing right now? It certainly would have,” he said.
Lt Gen Prasad cited the destruction caused in the Russia-Ukraine war to underline its implications.
Many of the defence experts argued that those who are questioning why Operation Sindoor was halted, “do not have an understanding” of the implications of a war, both in terms of material and human losses and its impact on the economy.
India’s principal aim was to “give a licking” to terrorists and terrorism, and “we wholly and totally succeeded” in that objective, said Maj Gen P K Sehgal (retd).
He cited that the Israel-Hamas conflict still stretches on, and asked if Israel has achieved its objectives.
On August 4, the Army chief addressed various faculty and students of IIT-Madras in Chennai, on ‘Operation Sindoor: A New Chapter in India’s Fight Against Terrorism’ — highlighting it as a calibrated, intelligence-led operation reflecting a doctrinal shift.
On the occasion, he also focused on the major strides made in technology absorption and capability development by the Indian Army.
Using the metaphor of the chess game, Gen. Dwivedi said, “In Operation Sindoor what we did, we played chess. So, what does it mean? It means, we did not know what is the next move, the enemy is going to take, and what we are going to do. This is something, we call.. the grey zone. Grey zone is that we are not going for the conventional operations. But, we are doing something, just short of a conventional operation.”
