Operation Sindoor: Army chief details how India made ‘grey zone chess moves’ against Pakistan

Chief of Army General Upendra Dwivedi said the government had given a “free hand” to the armed forces to respond to the terrorist attack in Pahalagam on April 22.

“On the 23rd, the next day itself, we all sat down. This was the first time that RM (Defence Minister Rajnath Singh) said, ‘enough is enough’. All three chiefs were very clear that something had to be done,” General Dwivedi said.

He said the clarity and direction of the political leadership boosted the morale of the forces and helped the army commanders-in-chief to be on the ground and act as per their wisdom.

Elaborating on the military confrontation between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor launched on May 7, General Dwivedi said it was like making chess moves.

"In Operation Sindoor, we played chess. We did not know what the enemy's next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called the grey zone,” he said, adding that what they were doing was just short of a conventional operation.

“We were making the chess moves, and he (enemy) was also making the chess moves. Somewhere we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own but that's life is all about,” he said.

General Dwivedi also mocked Pakistan’s claims of victory in the conflict, and noted that how narrative management is playing a key role in war.

“If you ask a Pakistani whether you lost or won, he'd say ‘my chief has become a field marshal. We must have won only, that's why he's become a field marshal’,” said the Army chief.