Pak targets ‘taken out’ in Op Sindoor weren’t hit even during 1971war: IAF

Air Force Vice-Chief Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, who played a key role in Operation Sindoor, has said some of the targets “taken out” during the skirmishes with Pakistan were not hit even during the 1971 war.

Speaking at an event hosted by a media house, the IAF Vice-Chief said, “There were targets ‘taken out’, which were not ‘taken out’ even during the 1971 war. That is the kind of damage we caused to them (Pakistan).” In the Air Force, “taken out” is used to describe the elimination of a target.

Air Marshal Tiwari also reiterated that less than 50 weapons were fired by the Air Force at “carefully chosen” Pakistani military targets. This, he said, forced Islamabad to request an end to hostilities on the fourth day of the operation on May 10. On July 25, he had said at a seminar that “less than 50 weapons brought the adversary to the discussion table”.

The IAF had hit 11 Pakistan airbases on May 10. Within hours of the strikes, Pakistan contacted the US seeking its intervention and later called up the Indian authorities for cessation of hostilities. Air Marshal Tiwari said the IAF was able to achieve “complete dominance” over the Pakistan military. The strikes were carried out after Pakistan’s attack on the intervening night of May 9-10.

India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The attack came in response to the April 22 Pahalgam massacre.

Air Marshal Tiwari said India was not willing to escalate the situation following its strikes on the terror infrastructure on the morning on May 7. “Our approach was calibrated and we only engaged military targets. But when the main (Pakistan) attack came on the night of May 9-10, we decided it was time to send the right message. We hit them pan-front,” he said.