From threat to punishment, message to Pak loud and clear: General Katiyar

India has sent a strong message of intent and capability by not just punishing Pakistan's act of terror in Pahalgam with punitive missile strikes in the heart of Pakistan Punjab, but also by successfully calling its nuclear bluff.

"By carrying out strikes deep inside Pak, we showed our resolve to strike with impunity at a time and place of our choosing. The message has gone home to the Pakistan leadership about the intent of our leadership and the capability of our Army", says Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar

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In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command, stated that India had demonstrated a shift in its strategic thinking since Operation Parakram in 2002 by striking hard and with precision both in Pakistan Punjab as well as on 11 airbases across the length and breadth of the neighbouring nation.

“By carrying out strikes deep inside Pakistan, we demonstrated our resolve to strike with impunity at a time and place of our choosing. The message has gone home to the Pakistan leadership about the intent of the Indian leadership and the capability of the Indian Army,” said General Katiyar, who heads the Western Command, tasked with protecting India’s western frontier facing Pakistan. He was speaking at his office in Chandimandir.

Significantly, he noted that India had called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff, which had loomed over the subcontinent since both countries went overtly nuclear in the summer of 1998.

Pakistan believed it could carry out repeated terror strikes against India — in the J&K Assembly in 2000, in Parliament in 2001, in Mumbai in 2008, in Uri in 2016, in Pulwama in 2019, and in Pahalgam in 2025 — assuming India would not retaliate due to fear of international restraint over a potential nuclear flashpoint. With Operation Sindoor, India has called Pakistan's nuclear bluff, General Katiyar asserted.

Highlighting that this key achievement of Operation Sindoor serves as a message for both Pakistan and the world, General Katiyar emphasised that the operation had made clear the linkages between Pakistan's military establishment and its terror groups.

“Linkages between Pakistan’s ISI and various tanzeems (terror groups) in Pakistan have been well documented,” he said, adding, “The world should take notice of the collusion between terrorism and the Pakistan establishment.”

General Katiyar pointed to photos of men in Pakistani military uniform attending the funerals of terrorists killed in the strikes on terror camps in Muridke and Bahawalpur in Pakistan Punjab as proof. “Why would you have Pakistani military men attending these funerals otherwise?” he asked.

The Army Commander explained the shift in India’s strategic doctrine since Operation Parakram in 2002, when the Indian Army mobilised along the western frontier for 10 long months following the terror attack on Parliament in December 2001 —without firing a shot.

“Since Operation Parakram in 2001-02, the thinking has changed from deterrence by threat to deterrence by punishment. We saw it happening post-Uri in 2016. We saw it happening post-Pulwama in 2019. Now, what we have done in Operation Sindoor is on a completely different scale and the scope was very big,” he said.

Following the Pahalgam massacre, the General said the Pakistan army had enhanced its deployment in border areas, occupying most forward posts while mobilising some of its reserve and mechanised formations.

“There was a possibility of some misadventure by Pakistan, but we were prepared for any eventuality. Our defensive safeguards, including air defence and surveillance elements, were deployed and offensive formations were geared up to undertake operations at short notice,” the General said, referring to the seamless synergy between the three services in executing Operation Sindoor.