It’s been 6 days since India’s “Operation Sindoor” - the “focused, measured and non-escalatory” actions that hit nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
In a press briefing last evening, Director-General Military Operations Lt. General Rajiv Ghai, along with Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, Vice Admiral A.N. Pramod and Major General S.S. Sharda, gave a conclusive summary of the operation and said it achieved its “desired objectives”.
DGMO Ghai triumphantly declared that the strikes across the nine terror hubs left “more than 100 terrorists killed including high value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Muddasir Ahmed, that were involved in the hijack of IC 814 and the Pulwama blast."
When asked about the number of casualties of the Pakistan Army, DGMO Ghai said that they are reported to have lost “approximately 35-40 personnel” along the Line of Control between May 7 and 10th.
In response to escalation by Pakistan in the following days, which included missile and drone attacks on India’s border regions, the Indian armed forces targeted military installations across the border.
Detailing the targets, Air Marshal Bharti said these included Chunian Air Defense Radar, Arifwala Air Defense Radar, Sargodha Air Field (including training facilities and assets like F-16 aircrafts), Rahim Yar Khan Air Field, Chaklala Air Field (a major airfield and logistics complex), Sukkur Airfield (with a focus on radar sites), Bholari Airfield (including aircraft hangars) and the Jacobabad Airfield and its aircraft hangars.
Pakistani propaganda as well as foreign media reports were quick to suggest that a number of Indian fighter jets and their pilots were downed by Pakistan. But Air Marshal Bharti was quick to clarify any misunderstandings and confirmed that all its pilots had returned safely after the precision strikes. And when pressed for details of any injuries or casualties on the Pakistani side, Air Marshal Bharti had a chilling response.
“How many casualties? How many injuries? To start with our aim was not to inflict casualties, but in case there have been, it is for them to count. Our job is to hit the target, not to count the body bags", he said.
But saner heads prevailed and a ceasefire was finally announced at 5 PM on Saturday, May 10 - bringing an end to the hostilities (for now at least) between the two nuclear-powered neighbours that stood precariously at the precipice of all-out war, in what would be the first time since the 1999 Kargil war.
Predictably, Pakistan violated the ceasefire within hours. Addressing the violations, DGMO Ghai said that "sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground".
However, he added that he spoke with his counterpart, highlighting the violations and reiterated India’s “firm and clear intent to respond to these fiercely and punitively”.
The no-nonsense warning by India’s DGMO seems to have worked with Indians, especially those living in the border regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, finally breathing a sigh of relief, following days of intense hostility, blackouts and blaring air raid sirens.
