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‘Masterly stroke’: Army deputy chief on India's decision to stop Operation Sindoor
Rahul R Singh said the Indian Armed Forces conducted extensive intelligence gathering while the final selection of targets remained fluid until the final hour.
"War is easy to initiate, but it's very difficult to control," India's Deputy Chief of Army Staff Rahul R Singh said on Friday as he decsribed Operation Sindoor as a carefully orchestrated military action. The operation showed India's resolve to stay ahead on the escalation ladder, while preventing a full-scale war with Pakistan, he said as per a report by news agency ANI.
He termed Operation Sindoor a “masterly stroke that was played to stop the war at an appropriate time”. Lt Gen Singh was speaking at the 'New Age Military Technologies' event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
“A total of 21 targets were identified, out of which nine targets we thought would be prudent to engage,” he said laying out the strategic thinking behind the operation's execution and conclusion. Both technological and human intelligence were used to decide on the targets, he added.
"It was only the final day or the final hour that the decision was taken that these nine targets would be engaged," Lt Gen Singh said.
The operation was deliberately designed to be a tri-services approach involving the Army, Air Force and the Navy to "send the right message that we indeed are an integrated force."
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"An important consideration was that we should always be on the top of the escalation ladder. When we reach a military objective, we should try and put a stop to it," he said.
"War is easy to initiate, but it's very difficult to control. So I would say that was a very masterly stroke that was played to stop the war at an appropriate time," he added.
He also said that there is a need for India to prepare for “fifth-generation warfare,” warning that future conflicts could involve “a computer nerd” who may sit in one part of the country and control the entire weapon system.
