Operation Sindoor was a non-contact, multi-domain mission which included aspects like distributed force application, cyber and disinformation campaign, intelligence capabilities and network-centric operations, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, General Chauhan said the direct and indirect forms of warfare deployed during Operation Sindoor, which began with the May 7 strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, exemplify the future of war.
While Pakistan may have leveraged Chinese commercial satellite imagery, there’s no proof of real-time targeting support. India, by contrast, relied on indigenous systems like Akash, achieving success through effective system networking, integrating both domestic and foreign radars into a cohesive defence structure, he explained, highlighting the impact of modernisation on India’s defence along the borders.
Real-time integration across air, land and sea will only be as effective as the networks they are connected to, he said, while highlighting the need to address if cutting-edge technology should reside in the weapon, platform or network.
Conflict is moving towards flexible, deceptive strategies, with 15 per cent of time during Operation Sindoor spent on countering fake narratives, General Chauhan said. Such narratives during the mission point to the need for a dedicated information warfare vertical, as demonstrated by India in its fact-based communication, even at the cost of slower responses, he said. During the operation launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack, India’s air-gapped military systems remained secure, while public platforms faced minor disruptions, he added.
General Chauhan highlighted the downside of automation and robotics in conflict and the future of Artificial Intelligence in future warfare. When fewer lives are at risk, decision-makers may act more aggressively, he said.
He also explained that military AI’s utility currently remains limited owing to its reliance on open source data. It must be integrated into operations, wargaming, and intelligence gathering to become truly impactful, he added.
On the India-Pakistan relationship, General Chauhan said New Delhi is operating strategically. At the time of the countries’ partition in 1947, Pakistan was ahead of India in terms of social and economic factors. That India is now ahead of its neighbour in these metrics is an accident but the result of a long-term strategy, he said. Emphasising that it takes two hand to clap, the CDS said that if India gets hostility in return for diplomatic efforts, disengagement may be a sound strategy.
The CDS said that the sea becomes India’s strategic outlet as geography and geopolitics constrain India’s movement north and east, owing to the cross-border conflict with China and internal turmoil within Myanmar.
He said nuclear escalation in undeclared wars is illogical, adding that no war is without cost.
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