New Delhi knew how and when to end the conflict with Pakistan that lasted for four days in May 2025, former Army Chief General Manoj Naravane said on Tuesday. Operation Sindoor had a clear politico-military objective, and India gave an appropriate answer to the act of terrorism against innocent civilians in Pahalgam, he said.
"Operation Sindoor had a clear politico-military aim. We were sure how and when to end the conflict," General Naravane said while speaking at the Television Journalists Association's award ceremony in Mumbai.
General Naravane, who served as the Chief of the Army Staff from December 2019 to April 2022, said he is often asked why Operation Sindoor was suddenly suspended. He said he often responds by saying, "War is not a Bollywood movie." Fighting a war is not an easy task, he emphasised.
"When Pakistan proposed a ceasefire, we still had enough strength and could have battered it more. But we did not do that. We showed restraint. The restraint showed by us raised our stature in the world," the former Army Chief was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
India is now considered a responsible and stable country which talks about peace, but when the need arises, it does not hesitate to use force, General Naravane noted. "This is now our identity," he added.
Operation Sindoor was India’s response to the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year, carrying out precision-driven airstrikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, eliminating at least 100 terrorists, and also targeting the air assets of the neighbouring country as the campaign expanded. It was a "punitive, precise, and proportionate" operation, former General Naravane reportedly noted.