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, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi said, highlighting the operation’s success.

“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”.

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.

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