The key decision on how India would use military force against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29, former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil …

The key decision on how India would use military force against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29, former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan (retd) has said, offering his first detailed account of the discussions that preceded Operation Sindoor.According to Chauhan, Modi told the military leadership that India needed to “teach Pakistan a big lesson” because the country would not tolerate cross-border terrorism.The action, he said, had to be something beyond what Pakistan would expect.“Soch ke bahar ho,” or “unthinkable”, were among the words used during the discussion, Chauhan said at a Vivekananda International Foundation event in New Delhi on Tuesday.The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the three service chiefs and Chauhan.The prime minister gave the military freedom over the timing of the operation but made one condition clear: there should be no failure.“He had also said, ‘do it at your own time, but ensure there is no reason for failure, either due to human or technical reason, and we should have evidence of whatever we do’,” Chauhan said.The meeting came after several rounds of discussions between the military, intelligence agencies and the government following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack.Chauhan said the government had decided on April 23 how diplomatic and economic instruments would be used, while the April 29 meeting focused on how military force would be applied.Between the two meetings, the Chiefs of Staff Committee met several times and held discussions with Doval as the military worked through different options and assessed potential targets.One of the key additions to the target list was a facility at Bahawalpur. Chauhan said the target was included at the insistence of the defence minister after Modi said that “we need to do something big”.Did India hit Pakistan’s alleged nuclear facility at Kirana Hills during Operation Sindoor? Ex-CDS Anil Chauhan clarifies The distance of Bahawalpur meant air power would have to be used, he said, as loitering munitions and drones could not reach the target with the required certainty.There was initially some concern about whether Indian forces could strike around midnight and still obtain evidence of the strikes in complete darkness. Chauhan said the military was confident in the capabilities it had developed and ultimately decided it could.The timing helped maintain surprise, he said.India subsequently launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, striking nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The targets included Markaz Taiba in Muridke and Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur, which India linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed.Chauhan said target identification had been one of the biggest challenges. Some terror facilities had been vacated after the Indian government signalled that it would strike, while others had been reoccupied or shifted, requiring intelligence agencies and military intelligence to continually reassess the target list.He also said the operation was not based on a single fixed strategy.“You can’t repeat a strategy against an adversary,” the former CDS said, stressing the need for new approaches as circumstances change.At the same event, Chauhan also clarified the controversy surrounding Kirana Hills in Pakistan, saying Indian forces had not deliberately targeted the site, which has been associated with Pakistan’s nuclear facilities.’Scrap misleading questionnaire, create new one’: Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi write to PM Modi over Caste CensusChina to be India’s main long-term competitor in multiple fields: Army ex-chief NaravaneHe said a loitering munition sent towards Sargodha, about 10 km south of Kirana Hills, may have struck the hills after failing to find its intended radar target. Such munitions, he explained, can loiter for a limited period before eventually striking a target or location.Pakistan had circulated images of smoke and explosions from the Kirana Hills region during Operation Sindoor, leading to claims that India had struck the sensitive site. Indian officials had previously denied targeting Kirana Hills.Chauhan also said the Indian Air Force had been cleared to attack a target at Skardu during the operation, but poor weather forced a change in plans, with the AEW&C hanger at Bholari becoming the target instead.The former CDS, who retired on May 30, said Operation Sindoor was “still ongoing”, although its major components had concluded.

Source: Deccan Herald