New Delhi, May 16, 2026
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Saturday termed Operation Sindoor as “entirely different” from previous conflicts. He mentioned that the military operation required “88 hours of extreme coordination”.
General Chauhan was interacting during ‘Sena Se Samvad 2026’.
Describing last year’s military strikes against Pakistan which was the result of the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, the CDS said: “Operation Sindoor is different. I am not saying ‘was’ since it is still ongoing, so I said it is different from all the past conflicts we may have fought.”
He added that probably for the first time, a kind of “multi-domain operation” was conducted.
“That means we operated in all three domains in a coordinated manner. It was largely non-contact warfare. Normally, all wars have involved contact; this was largely non-contact,” he said.
The CDS added that the military operation involved new technologies like space and cyber.
CDS Chauhan asserted: “The military operation may have lasted only for 88 hours, but it required huge amount of coordination among not only the three Armed Forces but also with other government departments and various agencies.”
“It was a very well-coordinated operation and that is why it was different from all other operations,” he added.
He highlighted that the matrices of victory were different in Operation Sindoor.
“Till yesterday we would think how much territory was captured, how many prisoners were taken, or how much equipment was destroyed. But here the matrices of victory were visible effects, smart and coordinated operation, that gave you a sense of victory,” he said.
The CDS added: “We could conduct strikes from 300-400 km away. That was unprecedented in our geographies. Therefore, this operation was entirely different.”
Meanwhile, in an example of serving beyond charter of duty, CDS Chauhan said that he was able to resettle two villages, Nelang and Jadung in Uttarakhand.
He mentioned that he had commanded Brigades in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla and Manipur’s Senapati district.
“Both these places are affected by insurgency. And it’s a people-centric conflict where human geography plays an important part. So even after I left those places 15 or 20 years ago, people still remember me and call me on any issue,” the CDS said.
CDS Chauhan also added: “Towards the fag end of my career, I went to Baramulla once again to reconnect with those people. I could not go to Senapati district in Manipur.”
The CDS said that it gives him immense happiness when people call him.
Referring to the villagers in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur where he had served the Army for a long time, General Chauhan added: “They had asked me for resettlement but that time I didn’t know I would become the CDS one day. After assuming charge, I resettled them once again.”(Agency)
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