Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi likened Operation Sindoor to a game of chess, describing it as a ‘grey zone’ mission where both sides made unpredictable moves, posing significant operational challenges for India’s forces against Pakistan.
Operation Sindoor was unlike any conventional mission, with the Army uncertain of the enemy’s next move, making it akin to a game of chess. Yet, India delivered a decisive checkmate, securing victory against Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi said. He slammed Islamabad’s ploy to portray itself as the victor in the conflict through its narrative management.
“In Operation Sindoor, we played chess… We did not know what the enemy’s next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called greyzone. Greyzone means that we are not going for conventional operations. What we are doing is just short of a conventional operation… We were making the chess moves, and he (enemy) was also making the chess moves,” the Army chief remarked.
Speaking at an event at the IIT Madras, he added, “Somewhere we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own but that’s life is all about”.
He called out Pakistan’s strategic narrative management, portraying itself as the winner in the conflict, referring to the government’s decision to elevate its Army chief, Asim Munir, to the rank of five-star general and field marshal.
“Narrative management system is something which we realise in a big way because victory is in mind. It’s always in mind. If you ask a Pakistani whether you lost or won, he’d say, ‘Army chief has become Field Marshal. We must have won only, that’s why he has a become a Field Marshal’,” the Army Chief said.
The anti-terror operation, launched on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which Pakistan-based militants killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, was driven by political resolve and strategic clarity at the government level, the Army chief added. He commended the decision to grant the Army a ‘free hand’ during high-level meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Defence Minister.
“On (April) 23rd, we all sat down. This is the first time that RM (Defence Minister Rajnath Singh) said, ‘enough is enough’. All three chiefs were very clear that something had to be done. The free hand was given, ‘you decide what is to be done.’ That is the kind of confidence, political direction and political clarity we saw for the first time,” Dwivedi said at the event.
On naming the mission ‘Operation Sindoor,’ General Dwivedi said it was something that galvanised the nation.
“It is important that how a small name Op Sindoor connects the whole nation… That is something which galvanised the whole nation… That is the reason the whole nation was saying why have you stopped? That question was being asked and it has been amply answered,” he added.
Operation Sindoor, the targeted military campaign launched by India, involved precision strikes against terrorist infrastructure and camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Indian armed forces, operating with a free hand from the government, used a combination of air and missile strikes to hit nine specific targets.
While India maintained that the strikes were focused, measured, and non-escalatory, Pakistan responded with retaliatory drone and missile attacks, which were effectively neutralised by India’s air defence systems.
