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Indian Express
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Akash, Brahmos now battle-tested; counter-drone ops will remain expensive: Maj Gen Gaurav Bagga on Op Sindoor
While the lower house of Parliament on Monday morning began a 16-hour debate on Operation Sindoor and the events following the terrorist attack at Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April this year, Major General Gaurav Bagga, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Golden Katar Division, spoke on the same topic at the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar. Bagga has been delivering lectures at several universities and higher educational institutions on Operation Sindoor. After a lecture at Karnavati University and RRU, the Major General is set to speak at IIMA on July 30, said an Army spokesperson. In a roughly hour-long lecture to students and faculty members at RRU, Bagga highlighted the threat of information warfare and narrative shaping, the need for greater self-reliance in weapon technologies and the asymmetry caused by cheap armed drones in modern warfare. From expounding on the Islamisation of the Pakistani Army to his thoughts on a multi-front war, Bagga touched on a number of topics, including how long deployed weapons in India's arsenal had finally seen combat for the first time. 'A lot of systems, which were never (battle) tested, got tested. Akash was made, but never tested. Now it's battle-hardened. They've been pretty successful. Brahmos missile was made, jointly manufactured with Russia, but never tested. They got tested. The S-400 was bought and deployed, but never tested. The scores of drones and anti-drone systems, many in trial stages, were tested and so Operation Sindoor has had several advantages for the armed forces. Many cannot be put in an open domain as yet,' said Major General Bagga. Here he was referring to the Akash Surface-To-Air (SAM) missile system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that is an integral part of India's Air Defence shield. The S-400 missile system is another air defence system, this one imported from Russia. The Brahmos, meanwhile, is a supersonic cruise missile used in offence operations and is deployed with all three wings of the Indian military. Taking a question on indigenisation of weapons systems, Bagga said, 'Self-dependence or 'atmanirbharta' has come to the fore. If you remember, during Operation Vijay (1999 Kargil war), there was a challenge of ammunition shortage. It was not indigenous and we had to procure it from the world market. The 155-mm howitzer ammunition was not available and that was the first time we felt, in the middle of a war, that ammunition was not available. Atmanirbharta is thus a challenge we need to work on.' On modern warfare, often conducted beyond visual range, Bagga said, 'We are adapting to a new type of warfare because this time, nobody crossed the line of control, it was all by air. The whole battle changed and went towards a zone we had not anticipated in numbers and intensity. These are lessons we have learnt as a nation. Your security is directly proportional to the money you invest in it. To keep such a huge armed forces is an expensive business so that country has to balance and it is doing that.' On India's preparedness for a multi-front war, Bagga said, 'Multi-front war is a reality, and to the best of our abilities, we are ready. Capability development is a constant process, it is a very slow and long-drawn process, which is happening. Human resources are being built, trained and a lot of situations and scenarios are being played up during preparation.' He further added, 'Preparation is a direct function of the kind of resources you have, the kind of supply chain that runs from many countries. So if we have a long-drawn war, we will have to look to friendly foreign countries where we will get our logistics supplies. That happens to be a challenge we are overcoming through 'atmanirbharta'.' On a question on the asymmetry between expensive anti-drone weapon systems and the relatively cheap attack drones used in modern warfare, Bagga said, 'The anti-drone systems involve many things. It has a soft kill and a hard kill. Soft kills have ranges of 70-80 km unlike missiles whose ranges vary from 200-300-400 km… there is no refuting the fact that a small Chinese or Turkish drone is being countered by a missile. But that's how it is. Now the question is do we have a cheap missile? We don't. Do we have a cheap system that can hit at long ranges? We don't. Should we allow that armed drone to come in and hope that our close-in systems will be able to (counter it)? These challenges remain, and that is why people are switching to lower-cost options like drones to cause damage. If you read about the Russia-Ukraine war, you will see most of the successful operations being done by drones because they are low-cost.' Speaking about drone warfare during the short India-Pakistan conflict, Maj Gen Bagga said, 'It's not just the Pakistanis who did it. We did the same to them and they didn't even have a counter for them (our drones). How did we reach their Lahore airport? It was our loitering munitions. At least we had counters, we did not allow them to damage any of our critical assets, including population centres or military stations. Counter (drone operations) will be more expensive till we get a cheaper option and no cheaper option is on the horizon (at the moment).' He also talked about the initial targeting of terrorist camps across the border in the first phase of Operation Sindoor. 'India's western front stretches from Point NJ9842 at Siachen Glacier to Sir Creek in Gujarat. (When hostilities take place) we are supposed to work in a particular fashion. This time, the challenge was to do things not as we usually do. They were expecting us to reply in a particular way — which we did not do. The targets were not restricted to J&K. They were thinking that we would react in a certain way like we did after Uri. They expected something towards J&K, but we had different plans.' 'There was a pool of targets because the command and control element of the terrorists were there. From 21, ultimately 9 targets were chosen and based on certain factors, vectors were chosen. Seven were destroyed by the Indian Army, two by the Air Force and a communique was sent to Pakistan that this is what we wanted to do, and this is not related to your military or nation, but (this is) against terrorism. These (targets) included Sawai Nala, Syedna Bilal, Kotli Abbas, Kotli Gulpur, and Bhimber in POJK; and Bahawalpur, Muridke, Mehmoona Joya, and Sarjal in Pakistan,' he added. On selection of targets, Bagga said, 'The camps are far more than 21, but we selected them because at that point in time, they were active. The others may also not exist after our strikes because the terrorists need to have flexibility to move. They were not expecting Muridke and Bahawalpur, which had been terrorism headquarters for many years, to be hit. The network is flexible and in motion. When nine were hit, the other 12 weren't there anymore. ' Speaking on the state of the Pakistan Army, Major General Bagga said, 'The islamisation of the Pakistan Army began when Zia-Ul-Haq was in power in the 1980s. Armies of all countries are apolitical and have no religion. He islamicised the Army and once you do that, the whole outlook changes. Then, the eastern neighbour becomes the Hindu eastern neighbour and that gives you a different dynamic.' Bagga added, 'Pakistan has troubles on its own western borders. On one hand there is Balochistan, and on the other, there is KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). They are in tumult and they must fight. The Pakistan Army is always under pressure because in Balochistan there are operations being carried out against the Pakistani Army every day. And when the Pakistani Army comes under pressure, they look to India. In India they can't do much anywhere, so they go to J&K and carry out terrorist attacks through Hafiz Saeed of the LeT and Masood Azhar of the JeM.' On the political situation in Pakistan, Bagga further said, 'There is an issue whenever there is greater political assertiveness in Pakistan. Whoever becomes stronger, put him in jail or hang him — that's what Pakistan does. The moment Imran Khan became a little stronger and began questioning the Army, and the people began fighting them, he went to jail.'
Indian Express
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Akash, Brahmos now battle-tested; counter-drone ops will remain expensive: Maj Gen Bagga on Operation Sindoor
While the lower house of Parliament on Monday morning began a 16-hour debate on Operation Sindoor and the events following the terrorist attack at Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April this year, Major General Gaurav Bagga, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Golden Katar Division, spoke on the same topic at the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar. Bagga has been delivering lectures at several universities and higher educational institutions on Operation Sindoor. After a lecture at Karnavati University and RRU, the Major General is set to speak at IIMA on July 30, said an Army spokesperson. In a roughly hour-long lecture to students and faculty members at RRU, Bagga highlighted the threat of information warfare and narrative shaping, the need for greater self-reliance in weapon technologies and the asymmetry caused by cheap armed drones in modern warfare. From expounding on the Islamisation of the Pakistani Army to his thoughts on a multi-front war, Bagga touched on a number of topics, including how long deployed weapons in India's arsenal had finally seen combat for the first time. 'A lot of systems, which were never (battle) tested, got tested. Akash was made, but never tested. Now it's battle-hardened. They've been pretty successful. Brahmos missile was made, jointly manufactured with Russia, but never tested. They got tested. The S-400 was bought and deployed, but never tested. The scores of drones and anti-drone systems, many in trial stages, were tested and so Operation Sindoor has had several advantages for the armed forces. Many cannot be put in an open domain as yet,' said Major General Bagga. Here he was referring to the Akash Surface-To-Air (SAM) missile system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that is an integral part of India's Air Defence shield. The S-400 missile system is another air defence system, this one imported from Russia. The Brahmos, meanwhile, is a supersonic cruise missile used in offence operations and is deployed with all three wings of the Indian military. Taking a question on indigenisation of weapons systems, Bagga said, 'Self-dependence or 'atmanirbharta' has come to the fore. If you remember, during Operation Vijay (1999 Kargil war), there was a challenge of ammunition shortage. It was not indigenous and we had to procure it from the world market. The 155-mm howitzer ammunition was not available and that was the first time we felt, in the middle of a war, that ammunition was not available. Atmanirbharta is thus a challenge we need to work on.' On modern warfare, often conducted beyond visual range, Bagga said, 'We are adapting to a new type of warfare because this time, nobody crossed the line of control, it was all by air. The whole battle changed and went towards a zone we had not anticipated in numbers and intensity. These are lessons we have learnt as a nation. Your security is directly proportional to the money you invest in it. To keep such a huge armed forces is an expensive business so that country has to balance and it is doing that.' On India's preparedness for a multi-front war, Bagga said, 'Multi-front war is a reality, and to the best of our abilities, we are ready. Capability development is a constant process, it is a very slow and long-drawn process, which is happening. Human resources are being built, trained and a lot of situations and scenarios are being played up during preparation.' He further added, 'Preparation is a direct function of the kind of resources you have, the kind of supply chain that runs from many countries. So if we have a long-drawn war, we will have to look to friendly foreign countries where we will get our logistics supplies. That happens to be a challenge we are overcoming through 'atmanirbharta'.' On a question on the asymmetry between expensive anti-drone weapon systems and the relatively cheap attack drones used in modern warfare, Bagga said, 'The anti-drone systems involve many things. It has a soft kill and a hard kill. Soft kills have ranges of 70-80 km unlike missiles whose ranges vary from 200-300-400 km… there is no refuting the fact that a small Chinese or Turkish drone is being countered by a missile. But that's how it is. Now the question is do we have a cheap missile? We don't. Do we have a cheap system that can hit at long ranges? We don't. Should we allow that armed drone to come in and hope that our close-in systems will be able to (counter it)? These challenges remain, and that is why people are switching to lower-cost options like drones to cause damage. If you read about the Russia-Ukraine war, you will see most of the successful operations being done by drones because they are low-cost.' Speaking about drone warfare during the short India-Pakistan conflict, Maj Gen Bagga said, 'It's not just the Pakistanis who did it. We did the same to them and they didn't even have a counter for them (our drones). How did we reach their Lahore airport? It was our loitering munitions. At least we had counters, we did not allow them to damage any of our critical assets, including population centres or military stations. Counter (drone operations) will be more expensive till we get a cheaper option and no cheaper option is on the horizon (at the moment).' He also talked about the initial targeting of terrorist camps across the border in the first phase of Operation Sindoor. 'India's western front stretches from Point NJ9842 at Siachen Glacier to Sir Creek in Gujarat. (When hostilities take place) we are supposed to work in a particular fashion. This time, the challenge was to do things not as we usually do. They were expecting us to reply in a particular way — which we did not do. The targets were not restricted to J&K. They were thinking that we would react in a certain way like we did after Uri. They expected something towards J&K, but we had different plans.' 'There was a pool of targets because the command and control element of the terrorists were there. From 21, ultimately 9 targets were chosen and based on certain factors, vectors were chosen. Seven were destroyed by the Indian Army, two by the Air Force and a communique was sent to Pakistan that this is what we wanted to do, and this is not related to your military or nation, but (this is) against terrorism. These (targets) included Sawai Nala, Syedna Bilal, Kotli Abbas, Kotli Gulpur, and Bhimber in POJK; and Bahawalpur, Muridke, Mehmoona Joya, and Sarjal in Pakistan,' he added. On selection of targets, Bagga said, 'The camps are far more than 21, but we selected them because at that point in time, they were active. The others may also not exist after our strikes because the terrorists need to have flexibility to move. They were not expecting Muridke and Bahawalpur, which had been terrorism headquarters for many years, to be hit. The network is flexible and in motion. When nine were hit, the other 12 weren't there anymore. ' Speaking on the state of the Pakistan Army, Major General Bagga said, 'The islamisation of the Pakistan Army began when Zia-Ul-Haq was in power in the 1980s. Armies of all countries are apolitical and have no religion. He islamicised the Army and once you do that, the whole outlook changes. Then, the eastern neighbour becomes the Hindu eastern neighbour and that gives you a different dynamic.' Bagga added, 'Pakistan has troubles on its own western borders. On one hand there is Balochistan, and on the other, there is KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). They are in tumult and they must fight. The Pakistan Army is always under pressure because in Balochistan there are operations being carried out against the Pakistani Army every day. And when the Pakistani Army comes under pressure, they look to India. In India they can't do much anywhere, so they go to J&K and carry out terrorist attacks through Hafiz Saeed of the LeT and Masood Azhar of the JeM.' The Major General also said lack of employment and development in J&K was definitely not the cause for conflict or terror in the area. On the political situation in Pakistan, Bagga further said, 'There is an issue whenever there is greater political assertiveness in Pakistan. Whoever becomes stronger, put him in jail or hang him — that's what Pakistan does. The moment Imran Khan became a little stronger and began questioning the Army, and the people began fighting them, he went to jail.'
Time of India
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Op Sindoor let military test several systems, proved country's 'atmanirbharta': Maj-Gen Bagga
Operation Sindoor gave the armed forces the opportunity to test several systems such as Akash and BrahMos missiles, due to which India's ' atmanirbharta ', or self-reliance in the defence sector, "got proven", General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Golden Katar Division Major General Gaurav Bagga said on Monday. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam attack, leading to terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Pakistan getting decimated. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Design Thinking Degree Data Science Artificial Intelligence MBA healthcare Data Science Healthcare Finance PGDM Cybersecurity others Product Management MCA Technology Others Management Digital Marketing Operations Management Project Management Public Policy Leadership CXO Data Analytics Skills you'll gain: Duration: 22 Weeks IIM Indore CERT-IIMI DTAI Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 25 Weeks IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK PCP DTIM Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Of the nine targets chosen for being the command and control centres of the terrorists, seven targets were destroyed by Indian Army , while two were destroyed by Indian Air Force with precision strikes, neutralizing 102 terrorists, said Bagga, who was addressing a gathering on Operation Sindoor at Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar. "Atmanirbharata was proven (in this operation). A lot of systems (which) were never tested, they got tested. Akash was made, (but) was never tested. Now they have gone through one operation and they have been pretty successful. BrahMos missile , jointly manufactured with Russia, (but) never tested on our own condition. (Now) it got tested. S-400 (air defence system) bought, deployed, never tested. It got tested," the major general pointed out. Bagga, who was part of the operation, added that scores of drone and anti-drone systems that were in trial stages also got tested. Live Events "Operation Sindoor has had a very very positive spin-off for the armed what it did was it brought the nation together and demonstrated to this country how robust your armed forces are," he asserted. "Operation Sindoor is not finished. It is in progress. And any act of terrorism declared by the government will be considered as an act of war. If something happens tonight, there will be a reprisal," he said. Referring to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Bagga said whenever Pakistan is in turmoil, its army causes trouble in India. Pakistan is the only country where the "army owns a nation" instead of the government controlling the army, he opined. "They (army) run the country, no matter whether there is democracy or not. Their entire rhetoric and their existence remain anti-India. Otherwise people (of Pakistan) would start questioning the use of the army. So they (army) will foment trouble here, so that they remain relevant in their country," said Bagga. While India hit only terror infrastructure (during Operation Sindoor), the Pakistan army started targeting religious places, military stations and places of no consequence, he said. "Thanks to our air defence system, Pakistan could not hit or damage any of India's military infrastructure," he pointed out.
Time of India
26-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrated at Golden Katar Division War Memorial in Gujarat
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2025 was celebrated at the Golden Katar Division War Memorial on Saturday Maj Gen Gaurav Bagga , GOC 11 RAPID (H), led the ceremony and felicitated the war widows. The event, attended by 22 Veterans, 12 war widows, 100 NCC Cadets, 50 APS students, 30 Officers, 10 SMs, and others. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category MCA Project Management CXO Degree PGDM Finance Healthcare Design Thinking Data Science MBA Management Digital Marketing Data Science others Artificial Intelligence Leadership Cybersecurity Others Product Management Data Analytics Technology Operations Management healthcare Public Policy Skills you'll gain: Programming Proficiency Data Handling & Analysis Cybersecurity Awareness & Skills Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Duration: 24 Months Vellore Institute of Technology VIT Master of Computer Applications Starts on Aug 14, 2024 Get Details Earlier, more than 5,000 participants took part in the Kargil Vijay Diwas Run , which was held in two categories 10 km and 5 km with both races starting and concluding inside the military base. Brigadier Rajesh Kumar, Brigade Commander, 85 Brigade , Gandhinagar said, 'The overwhelming participation in today's run is a testament to the nation's unwavering respect for our Kargil heroes . The Kargil Vijay Diwas Run is more than a sporting event—it's a heartfelt tribute to the courage and sacrifice of our soldiers.'
Indian Express
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Operation Sindoor stood out owing to political, military resolve and Indian forces' precision strikes: Maj Gen Gaurav Bagga in Gandhinagar
Attributing the success of Operation Sindoor to a combined effort of political and military resolve and the ability of Indian Armed Forces to execute such precision strikes using the most indigenous technology, Major General Gaurav Bagga, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Golden Katar Division, on Thursday said that these make this operation different than the ones executed previously. While speaking about the Operation Sindoor, a counter terrorism operation, at Karnavati University in Gandhinagar's Uvarsad on Thursday, Major General Bagga said: 'Unlike a conventional operation that would classically mean that the war is being announced and the army crosses the land, Air Force flies across the enemy territory and the Navy does what it does, there was a contact of forces on the ground, there was another stream of war that was very, very selective. You saw that after the Uri attack, there were surgical strikes, which were precise. This time, we wanted to hit the terrorist camps, which were troubling India.' This was the first time a GOC-rank officer came out in public to talk about the Operation Sindoor in Gujarat. He also said the operation was planned in a manner 'that we hit terrorism, no collateral damage — that means not a single civilian got hit'. 'And the message was very clear that terrorism is what troubles us, terrorism is why Pahalgam happened, and we are going to get back at you. So that is how Operation Sindoor was different. And as Pakistan continued to strike relentlessly for two nights, we again went across the spectrum of the entire country right from north to south. Each air field of theirs was brought down, meaning that the Air Force was grounded. They couldn't fly. And if we had taken it to the next stage, then they would have had to fight the war without their Air Force. No county can do that. That is how different was the political resolve, the military resolve, and the ability of India to execute such precision strikes, using most indigenous technology or technology that we had chosen in collaboration with our friendly countries,' he added. 'The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was absolutely clear about what he wanted, and had said: 'We will hunt you down and we will do what we want to do.' That was a stern warning. He was representing the emotion of the whole country. And that was a loud statement to make, and therefore, preparation for Operation Sindoor started. Preparations started at political level, which was of CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security), then there was military level, and there were global actions. Blackout drills were carried out in the country. Pakistan had a lot of long missiles. And therefore, the whole nation had to be ready,' he said. Initially, he said, there were '21 targets set as we had decided to target terrorist camps as our fight, in principle, was against terrorism', adding that nine of them were finalised after analysing all. 'It was being planned behind closed doors by the highest planners. Out of the nine targets, seven were hit by the Indian Army, and two by the Indian Air Force and the Navy. After the Pahalgam terror attack, there was a huge amount of cyber attack, he recalled, saying: 'They were all neutralised by our warriors.' Further speaking on how Pakistan changed its strategy each time it failed,, Maj Gen Bagga said that it was the frustration of the nation that was evident in these changed tactics. He went on: '102 terrorists were neutralised. And ultimately, Pakistan had to respond. After this attack, a call was made to the Pakistani DGMO that we had launched an operation, we had finished it and that we had to strike the terrorist camps — to which Pakistan obviously had to respond. We don't have any terrorist camps so they started targeting military infrastructure in Srinagar, Baramulla, Jammu, Rajouri, Avantipora, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur. There were drones, missiles and artillery shelling, apart from unprovoked firing. Every drone which came in was neutralised. So whatever effort they put in could not meet any success. None of our components got hit or destroyed. None of our assets were damaged because of the superior countermeasures that we had instituted. The DGMO then changed tactics. Gurdwaras, madrasas were hit. By the next day, 300-400 drones had hit 36 locations from Leh to Sir Creek. Every artillery shell and civilian airlines they used as a shield failed and the frustration level was going up. Then there were Turkish drones, there were Chinese drones, and some of their indigenous drones. Each one was being neutralised. This was how their attacks were systematically destroyed.' Terming the intervening night of May 9 and 10 as the one that goes in the history in terms of usage of assets in one night during any national operation, he said, 'All the air bases of Pakistan, all airports, assets were destroyed by the Indian army. We were destroying them and showing proofs to people. Most of the airfields had been destroyed. So where does the aircraft take off from? In case the operation went further, it had to go to the next level where the army, Air Force and Navy got engaged. And when their airports started getting destroyed, they knew they had no ability to launch air operations against India in case the war went ahead. Immediately, our DGMO got a call and was told that they were ready for a ceasefire. Our DGMO said: 'Let's talk about ceasefire.' And then we started the next phase of our operations.' Among the challenges that India faced was also countering Pakistan's propaganda of spreading misinformation. 'They just, very subtly, put out that 20 Indian Army bases had been destroyed. They were all fake. During such operations, citizens are expected to look at only authentic sources (for misinformation),' he stated, also adding a word of caution: 'If the source of a message is not authenticated, don't push it forward.'. 'After the operation, the Prime Minister, however, said that Operation Sindoor was not over. He meant that every time there is a terror attack, there will be a response. And for that, we will choose the time, the place and the medium. But there will be a response. It will no more be the status quo. It will no longer be: 'It happens'. We will not show patience. So any act of terrorism will be construed as an act of war,' Major General Bagga added.
