Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday revealed that Pakistan’s military was aiming to cripple India within 48 hours through escalated cross-border strikes during Operation Sindoor. However, India’s swift and targeted response forced Islamabad to seek de-escalation within just eight hours.
“On the 10th of May, at about 1 am, their (Pakistan’s) aim was to get India to its knees in 48 hours,” Chauhan said during a lecture at a university in Pune. “Multiple attacks were launched and in some manner, they have escalated this conflict, which we had actually hit only terror targets... Operations which they thought would continue for 48 hours, folded up in about 8 hours and then they picked up the telephone and said they wanted to talk,” he added.
General Chauhan underlined that the mindset behind Pakistan’s actions was not new. He traced it back to 1965 when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and President, told the United Nations Security Council that his country would wage a “thousand-year war” against India.
“In a 1965 speech to the UN Security Council, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared a thousand-year war against India,” the CDS said. “Recent remarks made by Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir were reminiscent of those previously propagated against India by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he added.
Also read: Pakistan follows a 1000-year war policy against India, says CDS Anil Chauhan
Asim Munir's playbook inspired by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
CDS Chauhan also accused Munir of “spewing venom against India” just days before the massacre in Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were shot dead in cold blood.
Describing the April 22 Pahalgam massacre, General Chauhan said, “What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims because all of them were killed with head shots in front of their families and their children and they were shot in the name of religion... which is kind of unacceptable to this modern world.”
He said the incident triggered “huge revulsion” in society and revived memories of past terror attacks India has endured. “This was not a single act of terror against India. Western nations may have had one or two acts of terror… India has been a victim of maximum terror acts, almost 20,000 people have been killed,” the CDS stated.
He added that the core principle behind Operation Sindoor, which followed the Pahalgam killings, was that “state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan has to stop.”
Indian forces remain unfazed and ready
General Chauhan emphasised that India’s armed forces remained unfazed despite the initial setbacks in the operation. “India's professional forces have not been impacted by losses,” he said.
He explained that both India and Pakistan had built significant new capabilities, but not all had been tested in real combat scenarios. “There is always an element of risk into it, but as they say, you cannot succeed if you don’t take that type of risk. We knew that we have a better counter-drone system.”
India did suffer early losses in the air campaign, including fighter jets, Chauhan confirmed over the weekend. “What I can say is on May 7, in the initial stages, there were losses,” he told Reuters TV — the first official confirmation from a senior defence leader.
While Pakistan claimed it had downed six Indian aircraft, including three Rafales, General Chauhan categorically denied this. “That is absolutely incorrect,” he said in interviews to Reuters TV and Bloomberg TV during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
He did not disclose the number of jets lost but said the Indian Air Force learned from early mistakes. “The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range.”
By connecting the current crisis to Bhutto’s decades-old vow at the UN, General Chauhan painted a picture of continuity in Pakistan’s strategy toward India — a long-term, ideological hostility built around state-backed terror and military provocation.
But with Operation Sindoor, Chauhan said India had sent a clear message that such provocations would meet with swift and strategic retaliation — even in the face of risk.
(With inputs from agencies)
“On the 10th of May, at about 1 am, their (Pakistan’s) aim was to get India to its knees in 48 hours,” Chauhan said during a lecture at a university in Pune. “Multiple attacks were launched and in some manner, they have escalated this conflict, which we had actually hit only terror targets... Operations which they thought would continue for 48 hours, folded up in about 8 hours and then they picked up the telephone and said they wanted to talk,” he added.
General Chauhan underlined that the mindset behind Pakistan’s actions was not new. He traced it back to 1965 when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and President, told the United Nations Security Council that his country would wage a “thousand-year war” against India.
“In a 1965 speech to the UN Security Council, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared a thousand-year war against India,” the CDS said. “Recent remarks made by Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir were reminiscent of those previously propagated against India by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he added.
Also read: Pakistan follows a 1000-year war policy against India, says CDS Anil Chauhan
Asim Munir's playbook inspired by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
CDS Chauhan also accused Munir of “spewing venom against India” just days before the massacre in Pahalgam, where 26 civilians were shot dead in cold blood.
Describing the April 22 Pahalgam massacre, General Chauhan said, “What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims because all of them were killed with head shots in front of their families and their children and they were shot in the name of religion... which is kind of unacceptable to this modern world.”
He said the incident triggered “huge revulsion” in society and revived memories of past terror attacks India has endured. “This was not a single act of terror against India. Western nations may have had one or two acts of terror… India has been a victim of maximum terror acts, almost 20,000 people have been killed,” the CDS stated.
He added that the core principle behind Operation Sindoor, which followed the Pahalgam killings, was that “state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan has to stop.”
Indian forces remain unfazed and ready
General Chauhan emphasised that India’s armed forces remained unfazed despite the initial setbacks in the operation. “India's professional forces have not been impacted by losses,” he said.
He explained that both India and Pakistan had built significant new capabilities, but not all had been tested in real combat scenarios. “There is always an element of risk into it, but as they say, you cannot succeed if you don’t take that type of risk. We knew that we have a better counter-drone system.”
India did suffer early losses in the air campaign, including fighter jets, Chauhan confirmed over the weekend. “What I can say is on May 7, in the initial stages, there were losses,” he told Reuters TV — the first official confirmation from a senior defence leader.
While Pakistan claimed it had downed six Indian aircraft, including three Rafales, General Chauhan categorically denied this. “That is absolutely incorrect,” he said in interviews to Reuters TV and Bloomberg TV during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
He did not disclose the number of jets lost but said the Indian Air Force learned from early mistakes. “The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range.”
By connecting the current crisis to Bhutto’s decades-old vow at the UN, General Chauhan painted a picture of continuity in Pakistan’s strategy toward India — a long-term, ideological hostility built around state-backed terror and military provocation.
But with Operation Sindoor, Chauhan said India had sent a clear message that such provocations would meet with swift and strategic retaliation — even in the face of risk.
(With inputs from agencies)
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