Operation Sindoor was a game of chess, not conventional warfare: Army Chief

In Operation Sindoor, we played chess, remarked General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) while inaugurating 'Agnishodh' — the Indian Army Research Cell (IARC) at IIT-Madras. He asserted that Operation Sindoor was unlike any conventional mission and that it was akin to playing a game of chess as "we did not know" what the enemy's next move would be.

“We did not know what the enemy's next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called the grey zone. Grey zone means that we are not going for the conventional operations. What we are doing is just short of a conventional operation,” he said.

While addressing the faculty and students on "Operation Sindoor — A New Chapter in India's Fight Against Terrorism”, he highlighted it as a calibrated, intelligence-led operation reflecting a doctrinal shift.

“We were making the chess moves, and he (enemy) was also making the chess moves. Somewhere, we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere, we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own but that's what life is all about."

Speaking on the Operation, the COAS said, "What happened on April 22 in Pahalgam shocked the nation. On April 23, the next day itself, we all sat down. This was the first time that RM (Defence Minister Rajnath Singh) said ‘enough is enough”.

He said the free hand was given to all three chiefs. “You decide what is to be done,” we were told, adding, “That is the kind of confidence, political direction and political clarity we saw for the first time. That is what raises your morale. That is how it helped our army commanders-in-chief to be on the ground and act as per their wisdom."

"On the 25th, we visited the Northern Command, where we thought, planned, conceptualised and executed the seven targets out of the nine that were destroyed, and a lot of terrorists were killed. On April 29, we met the Prime Minister for the first time. It is important how a small name Op Sindoor connects the whole nation. That is something which galvanised the whole nation. That is the reason the whole nation was saying why have you stopped? That question was being asked and it has been amply answered," Dwivedi added.

The initiative 'Agnishodh' aims to upskill military personnel in emerging fields such as additive manufacturing, cyber security, quantum computing, wireless communication and unmanned systems, fostering a tech-enabled force. (With Agencies)