Operation Sindoor Strikes Inside Pakistan Showed ‘No Sanctuary Is Safe’: Lt Gen Rajiv
Operation Sindoor Strikes Inside Pakistan Showed ‘No Sanctuary Is Safe’: Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai
M.U.H
07/05/202633
Operation Sindoor Anniversary: Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai on Thursday said that Operation Sindoor marked a defining moment in India’s strategic journey, highlighting how precision strikes deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir demonstrated that “no sanctuary is safe" for terror groups.
While addressing a joint press conference by top officials of the Army, Air Force and Navy on the occasion of the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, Lt Gen Ghai paid homage to civilians killed in the Pahalgam terror attack and said the operation reflected India’s shift from its earlier counter-terror approaches.
“Operation Sindoor saw India very consciously and coherently go beyond its erstwhile approaches and methods and target terror across the Line of Control and our international boundary with Pakistan," he said.
Pegging the operation around the coordinated strikes, Lt Gen Ghai said seven targets were struck by the Indian Army and two by the Indian Air Force in a synchronised mission that achieved “total surprise" and inflicted “maximum damage" on terror hubs deep inside Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and mainland Pakistan.
“Standoff precision strikes, nine in all, seven executed by the Indian Army and two by the Indian Air Force, were timed to perfection, achieved total surprise and inflicted maximum damage in each established terror hub deep in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and heartland Pakistan, signalling that no sanctuary is safe," he said.
Lt Gen Ghai said the government had given the armed forces two clear directives during the operation – well- defined political-military objectives and operational flexibility to execute the mission.
He described Operation Sindoor as a “joint tri-service effort" integrating land, air and maritime capabilities with shared intelligence and real-time decision-making. He also said intelligence agencies, cyber units, border forces and ministries worked in coordination with the armed forces in what he termed a “whole-of-government approach".
He further emphasised that Pakistan’s attempts to target Indian military infrastructure were thwarted by a carefully planned air defence architecture, allowing India to conclude a “complex multi-domain operation" in a compressed timeframe.
He also highlighted the role of indigenous defence systems including BrahMos and Akash missile systems, advanced surveillance platforms and domestically produced ammunition.
“Operation Sindoor proved that Aatmanirbharta is not just a slogan, it is indeed a force multiplier," he said, adding that more than 65 per cent of India’s defence equipment is now manufactured domestically.
What Is Operation Sindoor?
Indian Armed Forces carried out Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
The strikes killed over 100 terrorists, including 10 family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and four close aides.
