Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan revealed on Tuesday that Pakistan's military had planned to cripple India within 48 hours through escalated cross-border strikes, but India's swift response forced Islamabad to seek de-escalation in just eight hours. General Chauhan made these remarks during a lecture at a university in Pune, providing a detailed account of the clashes between India and Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam.
According to Gen. Chauhan, on May 10th, around 1 a.m., Pakistan launched multiple attacks with the aim of bringing India "to its knees" within 48 hours. However, these operations "folded up in about 8 hours," after which Pakistan contacted India to request talks. He noted that India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack was designed to establish "limits of tolerance" regarding cross-border terrorism and to reject Islamabad's approach of "nuclear blackmail".
General Chauhan highlighted that Pakistan's actions were not new and could be traced back to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's rhetoric of a "thousand-year war" against India. He also drew parallels between recent statements by Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir and those previously made by Bhutto.
India's firm response involved precision strikes on Pakistani targets, some as narrow as two meters, and key air bases like Nur Khan, Murid, and Rafiqui were targeted. Despite initial losses of fighter jets, Gen Chauhan asserted that India's forces remained unfazed. He emphasized that "professional military forces are not affected by setbacks and losses," and that the overall outcomes are more important than temporary setbacks. He used a cricketing metaphor, stating that winning a test match by an innings negates the significance of lost wickets and balls.
He also addressed the Pahalgam attack, calling it an act of "profound cruelty" where victims were killed with headshots in front of their families and children in the name of religion. He stated that the attack caused "huge revulsion" in Indian society, reviving memories of previous terror attacks. He said that India has been a victim of the maximum terror acts, and almost 20,000 people have been killed. This, he said, was the core principle behind Operation Sindoor – to ensure that state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan had to stop.
General Chauhan has also cautioned that Operation Sindoor is not over and remains a temporary cessation of hostilities, emphasizing the need to maintain vigilance. India has conveyed that it has merely paused Operation Sindoor and has not yet terminated it. He said India will soon come up with details of the losses suffered by Pakistan during the four-day conflict.
