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‘Border dispute with China India’s biggest challenge’: CDS Anil Chauhan in Gorakhpur
General Anil Chauhan said Pakistan's proxy war against India was the next major challenge.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday said India's border dispute with China remains one of the biggest challenges for the country.
While addressing a gathering in Gorakhpur, he said that Pakistan's proxy war against India was the next biggest national security challenge. He added that Isalamabad's strategy has always been to ‘bleed India by a thousand cuts’.
Chauhan also identified regional instability and its impact on India, and the preparations needed to handle future battlefield scenarios with high technology components in a rapidly challenging environment as the third and fourth major challenges.
“Challenges before countries aren’t momentary; they exist in different forms. I think the boundary dispute with China is India’s biggest challenge and will continue to remain so. The second major challenge is Pakistan’s proxy war against India, with a strategy of 'bleed India by a thousand cuts',” Anil Chauhan told the gathering.
“Another challenge is that the domains of war have changed-it now includes cyber and space. Both of our opponents are nuclear powers, and it will always remain a challenge to decide what kind of operations we want to undertake against them,” he added.
The top military official also spoke on Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in May, where India targeted terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in retaliation against the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
He said that the armed forces had full operational freedom during the operation and the aim was to "draw a red line to our patience".
“We had full operational freedom, including planning and selection of targets, during Operation Sindoor. The aim was not to avenge the terrorist attack, but to draw a red line of our patience,” he said.
He added that Operation Sindoor was a multi-domain operation, which included cyber warfare and coordination among military wings.
General Chauhan arrived in Gorakhpur on Thursday. He joined Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the foundation stone-laying of the Gorakha War Memorial's renovation and the Gorkha Museum. He also offered prayers at the Gorakhnath temple.
