New Delhi: The consequences for Pakistan could have been catastrophic had Operation Sindoor carried on for some more time, Indian Army’s Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai has said while noting that Pakistan is believed to have lost more than 100 soldiers in the four-day conflict.
Lt Gen Ghai was speaking at the United Nations Troop Contributing Countries’ (UNTCC) Chiefs’ Conclave. He said that the consequences of precision strikes on Pakistan-based terror infrastructures could have been more devastating.
Pakistan also lost at least 12 military aircraft during Operation Sindoor, the DGMO said.
“The Indian Navy was also very much in action, Ladies and Gentlemen. And this is possibly a fact that is not very well known-that the Navy had sailed into the Arabian Sea, and when the DGMO (of Pakistan) spoke, it was very well poised,” he said.
Lt Gen Ghai said that had Pakistan not played its role in holding back after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor could have weighed a lot heavier on their head.
“Had the enemy decided to take it any further, it could have been catastrophic for them, and not only from the sea but from other dimensions as well,” he added.
He pointed to how the Indian Armed Forces prioritised their targets between April 22 and the night of May 6-7.
“We carried out certain precautionary deployments on our borders to make sure that the enemy was deterred. There were numerous inter-service government departments and agencies that were coordinating,” Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai went on.
“Pakistanis possibly unwittingly let out their awards list on August 14, and the number of posthumous awards that they awarded suggests to us now that their casualties on the LoC were also in excess of 100,” the officer said.
Lt Gen Ghai affirmed that India deemed terror attacks as acts of war, which would be responded to with “decisive retaliation.” Ghai also doubled down on India not bowing to “nuclear blackmail,” noting, “There is no distinction between terrorists and sponsors of terrorism.”