"It Could Have Been Catastrophic For Pak": Top Officer On Operation Sindoor

The Indian Navy had sailed into the Arabian Sea and was ready for action when Pakistan reached out and called for a cessation of hostilities after four days of military conflict in May that had alarmed the world, said Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai on Tuesday.

India carried out precision strikes, called Operation Sindoor, on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in May this year. This was in response to the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.

"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 spoke, it was very well poised," said Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, who was speaking on Operation Sindoor at the United Nations Troop Contributing Countries' (UNTCC) Chiefs' Conclave.

The officer said had Pakistan not relented, the consequences for the neighbouring country could have been dire.

"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," the military officer added.

"Between April 22 and the night of May 6-7, the actions were evolving and unfolding. We were prioritising our targets. 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," he said.

#WATCH | Delhi | Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai says, "The Indian Navy was also in action... The Navy had sailed into the Arabian Sea and when the DGMO spoke, they were very well poised. Had the enemy decided to take it any further, it could have been… pic.twitter.com/lK5dhQkHY6

— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2025

The final selection of targets, the officer noted, was carried out from a large pool of targets that the Army scrutinised.

"While all this was happening, there was a very harmonised and proactive information warfare campaign that was also unfolding," he said.

Pakistan is understood to have lost over 100 military personnel along the Line of Control during Operation Sindoor, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said, citing list of awards conferred posthumously by that country's military.

"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," Lt Gen Ghai said, adding drone attacks against India was a "dismal failure".

The officer further underscored that there has been a "doctrinal shift in our strategy against terror".

"Our Prime Minister has spoken about it. These are the three things he said: Terror attacks are an act of war, and there will be decisive retaliation; we will not succumb to nuclear blackmail; and there is no distinction between terrorists and sponsors of terrorism," he said.

In July, Home Minister Amit Shah informed parliament that three terrorists who were involved in the killing of civilians in Pahalgam were eliminated by the security forces during Operation Mahadev.

"The perpetrators of the attack at Pahalgam, the Indian Army will chase them to the depths of hell-and we did. It took us 96 days, but we did not let them rest. When these three were found and eliminated, it seemed as if they were exhausted from running and were very malnourished... The Home Minister has spoken about this in the Indian Parliament. They were eliminated, and justice was served," Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said.