"Pahalgam Shocked The Nation": Army Chief Narrates What Forces Did Next

NDTV

3 days ago

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi has narrated the turn of events that followed the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam, which culminated in the 'Operation Sindoor' mega military offensive in May. While addressing a gathering at IIT-Madras on August 4, he also explained the strategic calls that the force had to take, comparing the four days of conflict with Pakistan with a game of chess.
The April 22 attack had claimed 26 innocent lives. The very next day, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), along with the heads of Air Force and Navy, met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and were given a clear message: They were free to decide their line of action.
"What happened on 22 April in Pahalgam shocked the nation. On the 23rd, the next day itself, we all sat down. This was the first time that RM (Rajnath Singh) said, "Enough is enough". All three chiefs were very clear that something had to be done. The free hand was given, 'you decide what is to be done'," recounted the COAS.
He hailed "political clarity" as a deciding factor that boosted the forces' morale and helped them achieve their targets. "That is the kind of confidence, political direction, and political clarity we saw for the first time. That is what raises your morale. That is how it helped our army commanders-in-chief to be on the ground and act as per their wisdom," the Army chief underlined.
Then came the planning phase. As the nation swelled with grief and anger, awaiting decisive action by the armed forces to avenge the massacre, the military brass engaged in high-level meetings to conceptualise the offensive.
"On (April) 25th, we visited the Northern Command, where we thought, planned, conceptualised and executed the seven targets out of the nine that were destroyed, and a lot of terrorists were killed," he said.
The tri-services chiefs then presented their plan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM came up with the name 'Operation Sindoor', which not only dealt a massive blow to the terror infrastructure across the border but also galvanised the entire nation.
"On April 29, we met the Prime Minister for the first time. It is important that how a small name, Op Sindoor, connected the whole nation. That is something which galvanised the whole nation. That is the reason the whole nation was saying why have you stopped? That question was being asked, and it has been amply answered," Gen Dwivedi said.
Operation Sindoor was activated early May 7 morning with aerial strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Over 100 terrorists were eliminated in the offensive. The hostilities ended May 10 after Pakistan sought a ceasefire.
Speaking at the IIT-M event, Gen Dwivedi compared the military operation with the game of chess, where the enemy's next move could not be guessed.
"In Operation Sindoor, we played chess. We did not know what the enemy's next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called the grey zone. Grey zone means that we are not going for the conventional operations. What we are doing is just short of a conventional operation. We were making the chess moves, and the (enemy) was also making the chess moves. Somewhere, we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own, but that's (what) life is all about," the COAS told the gathering.