Pakistan’s nuclear card a bogey, future Indian action would be harsher: Army Commander

Terming Pakistan playing the nuclear card a bluff, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, said the Operation Sindoor in May 2025 was largely fought by drones and missiles, any future confrontation would yield a decisive outcome on the ground.

“Pakistan’s nuclear threat is more of a bogey. It wants to prevent us from taking any action, so it plays this card. It’s a kind of bluff which we have to call out and we will not get deterred by it,” he said while speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the Western Command Investiture Ceremony at the Mamun Military Station near Pathankot on Thursday.

“Our operational preparedness continues and is more intensive. We taught Pakistan a strong lesson during Operation Sindoor and if it did not understand it and if due to its own internal circumstances it is creating a war-like situation, we will have to respond appropriately,” he said.

Lt Gen Kaitiyar said that the Pakistani military leadership wants to remain relevant within their country, which comes through a state of confrontation with India. “Despite a lot of our peace efforts, but they will keep confrontation alive, which is a cause of worry for us,” he said.

Pakistan, he said, is pursuing a strategy of proxy war and pushing in terrorists to ferment trouble in India and this is being dealt with appropriately. “The militancy parameters in Jammu and Kashmir have come down and the situation is improving. We are aware of Pakistan’s attempts to support terrorism and revival of the terrorist training infrastructure and are keeping a close watch on this,” he said.

The Western Command chief said that should the need for Operation Sindoor 2.0 arise, India’s military response will be much stronger than what was witnessed last time. “How strong it will be and to what extent we go will depend upon the situation prevailing at that time, but we are very sure that we have to respond harsher than last time,” he said. Pointing out that Pakistan misled its own citizens by pushing a false narrative of success in Operation Sindoor, he added that next time, we will not give them such an opportunity.

Troops from a Bhairav battalion display their skills at the Western Command Investiture Ceremony at Mamun Military Station on Thursday.

“Future military objectives would go beyond targeting airbases and terrorist camps and would involve decisive action on ground which will bring Pakistan to its knees,” he said. “For this, Western Command, which faces Pakistan’s most important areas, will play a critical role in entering enemy territory, seizing key centers and inflicting heavy damage, while at the same time protecting Jammu and Punjab.

He said that Pakistan does not have the capability to fight with India militarily and if we hit it, it will try to go for a ceasefire by any means. During Operation sindoor, Pakistan had asked India for a ceasefire and also approached other countries for help in getting a ceasefire, he added.

The aim of Operation Sindoor was achieved in the first half-an-hour. Thereafter, they retaliated by launching attacks at our military bases and in response we destroyed several of their airbases and military sites, he said.

Earlier, addressing military personnel at the investiture ceremony, Lt Gen Katiyar underscored the successful execution of Operation Sindoor by the Western Command and its enhanced preparedness for any future conflict.

He highlighted the high level of operational readiness maintained by the Western Command and emphasised the jointmanship and multi-domain capabilities demonstrated during recent operations and training exercises. He also reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to sustained operational preparedness, technological modernisation and inter-agency coordination to further strengthen integrated capabilities in support of national security.

He also conferred the GOC-in-C’s Unit Citation to various Army units, establishments and individuals in recognition of their exemplary service and significant contributions during Operation Sindoor, Operation Rahat and other professional and sports activities. A demonstration of newly inducted drones and unmanned aerial systems, recently raised Bhairav light commando battalions, air defence and counter-drone operations, network-centric operations and other are fighting equipment was also held.