New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi on November 17 highlighted how the swift action and defence capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces gave India a chance to give a befitting reply to Pakistan in the form of Operation Sindoor. Calling the Operation an “88-hour trailer”, he said that the armed forces were ready to “teach them (Pakistan) how to behave responsibly with a neighbouring nation” if such circumstances came up.
“Operation Sindoor was just a trailer which ended in 88 hours. We are prepared for any circumstances in future. If Pakistan gives a chance, we will teach it how to behave responsibly with a neighbouring nation,” General Dwivedi said while addressing the curtain raiser even of the ‘Chanakya Defence Dialogues’ in New Delhi.
Talking about the lessons learned from the operation, the COAS underlined three main points; integration between forces, ensuring proper supplies for a long drawn out battle, and also ensuring decisions are taken at every level of the command chain.
“Whenever some operation happened we learn from it, this time too we learned things. One of the things we learned was that the decision we have very less time to take any decision, and take a decision at every level on time,” he said.
On intergration between armed forces, the COAS said, “Another thing is integration, which means that all forces, whether Army, Navy, Air Force, CAPF, anyone else need to have good integration, because today’s battles are multi-domain. Just the army cannot fight a battle, everyone has to fight together…So many things have been mixed together.”
He also mentioned how India needs to ensure that proper supplies for food, and ammunition are maintained for even long drawn out battles, even for as long as four years if need be.
“We also cannot say how long a battle will last even today. This time we fought for 88 hours, next time it could be four months too or even four years. Looking at that, do we have enough supplies and weapons to fight that? If we do not have then we need to prepare for that,” he added.
Talking about how India has “set a new normal” after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, he mentioned that the country’s forces are ready to “take action” against any country which will create obstacles in the country’s progress, shown in how India is not phased by any “blackmail attempts”.
“When a country encourages state-sponsored terrorism, it becomes a matter of concern for India. India talks about progress. If someone creates obstacles in our course, then we will have to take some action against them. When we talk about the new normal, we have said that talks and terror can’t go together. All we are asking is to adopt a peaceful process, which we will cooperate with. Until then, we will treat terrorists and their sponsors alike,” he said.
He further highlighted the improving security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that there has been a huge decline in terrorist incidents in the area following the abrogation of Article 370.
“After 5th August 2019 (abrogation of Article 370), there has been a huge change in the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. After this, political clarity has come. There has been a huge decline in terrorism (in J&K),” he said.
The Chanakya Defence Dialogues is a flagship international seminar organised by the Indian Army with the aim of bringing together policymakers, strategic thinkers, academia, defence personnel, veterans, scientists, and subject matter experts from India and abroad to examine India’s strategic directions and developmental priorities.
This year’s theme for the dialogues is ‘Reform to Transform, Sashakt, Surakshit, aur Viksit Bharat’. While COAS General Upendra Dwivedi addressed the curtain raiser event in New Delhi, the main event is set to take place from November 27 to November 28 in the national capital. (ANI)
