Former chief of defence staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday provided a fresh look into the strategic mechanics and behind-the-scenes decision-making of Operation Sindoor.
The operation, conducted against Pakistan by India last May, was in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. Indian forces reportedly mounted a tri-service offensive against terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This ultimately forced Islamabad to request a ceasefire.
Speaking at at the Vivekananda Centre in New Delhi, Chauhan said a key principle of Operation Sindoor was to ensure that India delivered the final strike in any escalation. “One of the couple of principles which we thought in the escalation matrix which we laid for ourselves was that the last strike or the winning note will always be delivered by us and not by the Pakistanis,” he said.
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Sargodha, Skardu targets considered during escalation
Chauhan, who was the CDS during Operation Sindoor, said the Indian Air Force chief asked him whether Sargodha should be struck after Pakistan indicated that it wanted to talk.
{{/usCountry}}Chauhan, who was the CDS during Operation Sindoor, said the Indian Air Force chief asked him whether Sargodha should be struck after Pakistan indicated that it wanted to talk.
{{/usCountry}}"Once the Pakistanis had picked up the phone and said they wanted to talk at about 10 AM. The Air Chief asked me whether he should strike Sargodha, I said, Go ahead..." Chauhan said.
He added that he had asked the Air Force to identify two additional targets. One of those was Skardu, but bad weather subsequently forced a change in the plan.
"I said, could you please identify two more targets, so one of the targets he identified was Skardu. We gave a yes, but after some time, the weather was bad over it and they had to change over to Bholari..." he said.
Better battlefield awareness helped India, says Chauhan
"If I had to list out a couple of reasons for India's victory, I would say that we had better situational awareness, better battlefield transparency because we are better networked," he said.
He said information from the Army, Navy and Air Force was available in a common operational picture, allowing commanders to make decisions with a more comprehensive understanding of the battlefield.
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“So, we were able to make better decisions,” Chauhan said. "Second thing I could attribute to victory was, I think, clear political direction, which gave us a free hand to plan operations..." he said.
Trump did not broker the ceasefire: Ex-CDC
Chauhan also disputed US President Donald Trump's repeated claim that Washington helped bring about the India-Pakistan ceasefire. According to Chauhan, the ceasefire was agreed directly between the two countries' directors general of military operations.
"The DGMO said he is not available till about 3 o'clock... and then we decided at 5 o'clock. So the ceasefire was decided between two DGMOs, and that's it. I don't see the role of anyone else," Chauhan said.
"How did this particular information get leaked out to the Americans that they tweeted before we could announce this? Again, I'm really sure it did not leak out from us... Somehow got leaked out from the other side that what I feel..." he said. Trump publicly claimed that the US helped broker the end to hostilities, a claim that India repeatedly disputed.
Pakistan's intelligence was poor, says Chauhan
Chauhan also claimed that Pakistan had an inaccurate picture of Indian naval movements during the operation. "Pakistan's understanding of the situation was quite poor, even in the maritime domain," he said.
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He cited Pakistani briefings about the location of an Indian carrier battle group and said Indian assessments later showed that the group was actually 100 to 300 nautical miles away from the locations being reported.
"So means either they were getting wrong inputs of our carrier battle group or means they were just not accurate because they were dependent only on foreign sources for this because their long-range maritime aircraft did not fly at all," Chauhan said.
Kirana Hills was not deliberately targeted
Chauhan said India did not target Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor. He said loitering munitions sent towards Sargodha, about 10 km south of the hills, were searching for radars.
"So the loiter ammunition was looking for radars, which were in and around Sargodha... It will loiter for about two hours, and if it doesn't find a target, it will come and hit somewhere. It must have come and hit one of those hills," he said.
His remarks come amid speculation that India targeted a nuclear facility at Kirana Hills. Air Marshal AK Bharti, who was the Director General of Air Operations during Operation Sindoor, also denied the claim in May 2025.
Anil Chauhan completed his tenure as CDS on May 30, after serving for about three years and eight months. He was succeeded by General NS Raja Subramani, who took charge as India’s third CDS on May 31.