Pakistan planned 48-hour attack but ended in 8hrs: Top general
What's the story
Pakistan's ambitious 48-hour plan to "bring India to its knees" was cut short in just eight hours, forcing Islamabad to call for a ceasefire, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan revealed.
Speaking at Pune University on Tuesday, he said Pakistan launched multiple coordinated attacks on May 10 with the aim of crippling India within two days.
Preemptive action
Operations supposed to last 48 hours ended in 8
"On May 10 at 1 am, their aim was to get India to its knees in 48 hours. [But] 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 said.
He said India had warned Pakistan after surgical strikes on terror camps on May 7 that any escalation would lead to stronger retaliation.
Escalation
Pakistan escalates situation with missile, drone attacks on cities
These preemptive strikes, codenamed Operation Sindoor, targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan in response to a Pahalgam terror attack.
Pakistan's response to India's action was an escalation, with drone and missile attacks on Indian border cities. This led to stronger retaliation from India.
After four days of exchanges, both countries agreed to a ceasefire.
However, General Chauhan warned that "Operation Sindoor is not over as yet," calling it a temporary cessation of hostilities and urging continued vigilance.
Losses
Losses like wickets in cricket match: General Chauhan
Addressing questions about military losses during Operation Sindoor, General Chauhan likened it to losing wickets in a cricket match.
"It would not be very correct to talk about losses. Suppose you go to a cricket match and you win...then there's no question about how many wickets, balls, players."
"We can take out this data and share it...we can tell you how many aircraft were destroyed, how many radars were hit," he said, appearing to prioritize outcome over losses.
Singapore
General dismisses Islamabad's claim that it destroyed 6 jets
In a recent event in Singapore, he confirmed India's losses but didn't specify numbers or confirm claims of Pakistan shooting down Indian jets.
This came after rumors circulated that Pakistan's air defenses had shot down several Indian fighter jets, including several of the freshly purchased, French-made Rafale aircraft.
Without specifying the number of jets lost, the general said that Islamabad's assertion that it had destroyed six jets was false.