India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Thursday (May 14) said the Indian armed forces maintained a decisive operational advantage during Operation Sindoor, citing superior situational awareness and battlefield transparency throughout the four-day conflict with Pakistan.
Speaking at the ‘Kalam & Kavach’ defence conclave held at the Manekshaw Centre, General Chauhan said the Indian forces were able to stay ahead at every stage of escalation because they noted accurate real-time information on both their own operations and enemy movements across the border.
According to the CDS, the armed forces successfully handled the escalation dynamics during the nearly 88-hour confrontation, which followed India’s launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year in response to the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam.
“We dominated the escalation matrix on all four days because of our superior situational awareness,” he said, adding that the armed forces knew precisely what they had hit and what had transpired after every mission.
He further stated that this awareness extended both within India and across the border. In his view, it was this decisive intelligence that gave the Indian forces an advantage, enabling them to dominate every rung of the escalation ladder. General Anil Chauhan said that this was possible due to systems that are already integrated among the three-armed forces.
The operation involved precision strikes targeting terror infrastructure located in Pakistan.
Pakistan later responded with military offensives, prompting further counteractions by Indian forces under the same operation. Military operations ceased on May 10 after both sides agreed to de-escalate tensions.
During the interaction, General Chauhan also spoke about the changing nature of modern warfare, especially the increasing use of drones, surveillance systems and advanced technologies in combat operations.
He cautioned against prolonged military engagements, stressing that nations must avoid getting trapped in long-duration conflicts without clearly defined political and strategic objectives.
He emphasised that military campaigns should be guided by precise politico-military goals and accompanied by a clear exit strategy once those objectives are achieved, PTI reported.
The CDS also spoke about the “JAI” framework, representing jointness, atmanirbharta (self-reliance) and innovation, which formed the central theme of the conclave.
Referring to India’s ongoing theatre command reforms, he said efforts toward greater military integration are now progressing with greater urgency and scale, while acknowledging that several other countries implemented such structures nearly a decade ago.