CDS Anil Chauhan to address Singapore's Shangri La Dialogue on Saturday
During the crucial dialogue, Gen Chauhan will speak on the 'Future Wars and Warfare' on Saturday. He will then participate in the simultaneous special sessions and speak on the topic 'Defence Innovation Solutions for Future Challenges'.
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New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
Outcome matters more than losses in war: Chief of Defence Staff on Operation Sindoor
PUNE: Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said that in military operations, it is the outcome that matters more than the losses suffered. His comments come days after India admitted to losing a few fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, carried out in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Speaking at a special lecture on 'Future Wars and Warfare' at Savitribai Phule University in Pune, General Chauhan said, 'Professional military forces are not affected by setbacks and losses.' Addressing questions on the losses, he added, 'When I was asked about losses on our side... I said these are not important. The results are important. It would not be very correct to talk about losses. Suppose you go to a cricket match and you win, by any means, then there's no question about how many wickets, balls, players.' Stressing the importance of adaptability in the armed forces, he said, 'You should be able to understand what went wrong, need to rectify your mistake and go again. You cannot sit down in fear.' As TNIE earlier reported, when asked whether Pakistani forces shot down an Indian jet or more during Operation Sindoor, General Chauhan told Bloomberg TV on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, 'What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down, what mistakes were made, that are important.' He added, 'The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range.' While stressing 'numbers are not important,' he also denied Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's claim that the Pakistan Air Force had downed six Indian jets, including four Rafale fighters, during the brief military confrontation. His comments mark the first clear public admission from the Indian military that some aircraft were lost during the four-day conflict under Operation Sindoor. The operation was launched by India on May 7 in response to the brutal killing of 26 Indian tourists in Pahalgam. Explaining the objective behind the operation, General Chauhan said, 'The thinking behind Op Sindoor was (also) that Pakistan should not be able to hold India hostage to terrorism. India is not going to live under the shadow of terror and nuclear blackmail.' He also said, 'What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims... because all were killed with headshots in front of their families and their children, and they were shot in the name of religion... India has been the victim of a maximum terror acts... almost 20,000 people have been killed.'
Deccan Herald
3 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
'No question of wickets and players, India inflicted innings defeat on Pakistan': CDS Anil Chauhan
In response to a question about the damage suffered by Pakistan during 'Operation Sindoor', Gen Chauhan made it clear that the operation has not ended as of now and there is a 'temporary cessation of hostilities'.
The Print
5 hours ago
- The Print
Losses are not important, outcomes are—CDS General Anil Chauhan on Operation Sindoor ‘setbacks'
'Professional military forces are not affected by setbacks and losses in a war. What is important is that morale remains high even when there are setbacks,' General Chauhan said Tuesday at a university in Pune on the theme, 'Future Wars and Warfare'. The CDS' assertion comes three days after he conceded that India did suffer 'initial losses' of air assets due to tactical errors in Operation Sindoor. The Army, he added, 'rectified tactics' and hit back hard deep inside in Pakistan with precision strikes. New Delhi: Professional militaries are not deterred by losses and what matters is the achievement of operational objectives, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said Tuesday. 'Adaptability is a key marker of a professional force. One must understand what went wrong, correct the mistake, and go back into action. You cannot sit down in fear,' he added. On reports of India losing combat aircraft during recent operations, Gen Chauhan reiterated: 'Losses in war are not important, what matters is that the objective was achieved.' 'You cannot sit back in fear but must maintain high operational tempos. Losses are not important; the outcome is,' he added. Back on Saturday, the CDS had made a similar point to Bloomberg TV when he had asserted that the initial situation was corrected promptly and combat operations resumed within 48 hours. 'What is important is not that the jets were downed, but why they were downed,' he had said in Singapore. 'The good part is that we understood the tactical mistake, remedied it, and re-engaged two days later with long-range targeting. That is what matters.' In a separate interview with Reuters, Gen Chauhan had said both India and Pakistan had acted rationally during the recent escalation. 'Why should we assume that in the nuclear domain, there will be irrationality on someone else's part?' Referring to Pakistan's conduct during Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, he said Islamabad reached out to the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) after misjudging the nature and consequences of its own strikes. 'They hit multiple fronts without fully understanding the targets. When they realised the cost of escalation, they called for dialogue, knowing further action would lead to greater losses,' he said in Pune. 'On the 10th of May, at about 1 am, their (Pakistan) aim was to get India to its knees in 48 hours. Multiple attacks were launched and in some manner, they have escalated this conflict, which we had actually hit only terror targets… Operations which they thought would continue for 48 hours, folded up in about 8 hours and then they picked up the telephone and said they wanted to talk,' the CDS added. Recalling that DGMO-level exchange between two sides, he said, 'the Indian armed forces demonstrated rationality. On the 7th, we conveyed to the Pakistani DGMO that only terror targets were hit with no collateral damage or no military infrastructure being involved.' The CDS further emphasised that warfare today is a deeply political exercise. 'A state uses diplomatic, informational, military and economic tools to achieve its political objectives. You've seen this recent war, it was fought to secure political outcomes. War and politics are running in parallel,' he said. 'War is a continuation of policy and it is also a rational decision.' Touching upon Operation Sindoor, Gen Chauhan stated that Pakistan can no longer use terrorism or nuclear threats to hold India hostage. 'State-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan has to stop. India is not going to live under the shadow of terror and nuclear blackmail,' he said. 'Terrorism is not a rational act, it defies rationality. But when a state sponsors terrorism, it becomes a reasoned act, calculated for political ends,' he said, drawing a distinction between terrorism and warfare. Operation Sindoor, he asserted, had redrawn the lines of military engagement. 'We have drawn a new line of military operation. Terrorism has now been linked to critical resources like water. Pakistan's strategy to bleed India by a thousand cuts will no longer go unanswered,' he said in tune with PM Modi's message that 'blood and water cannot flow together.' Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed, Gen Chauhan said: 'They were killed in the name of religion, which is unacceptable in today's modern world. This act created revulsion across society and reminded us of the repeated terror attacks India has endured.' He further contextualised the terror attack in a broader historical arc. 'In 1965, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto spoke of a thousand-year war against India. Just two days before the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir made incendiary remarks against Hindus,' the CDS said. He added that while western nations may have faced one or two major terror attacks, India has suffered nearly 20,000 casualties due to terrorism. Discussing Operation Sindoor, he described it as India's first instance of non-contact warfare, apart from actions along the Line of Control. 'It combined kinetic and non-kinetic means, was non-linear in nature, and featured simultaneous strikes at the LoC (Line of Control) and at Pakistan's Nur Khan Airbase.' He also said that the operation was highly networked, involving integrated air defence systems linked via IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System) and Akashteer, and supported by fused counter-UAS technologies. It was also a multi-domain operation, spanning land, air, cyber, space and the electromagnetic spectrum, he added. On the future of warfare, Gen Chauhan said that contact warfare has expanded dramatically, with Indian weapon systems capable of covering the entire length and breadth of Pakistan for highly precise strikes Operation Sindoor was a 'historic demonstration of air power,' he said. 'We penetrated a prepared adversary's air defence network with impunity, showcasing India's superior airpower.' (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Op Sindoor: Inside story of what led Pakistan DGMO to make frantic calls for 'ceasefire'
