Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday said the Indian Army is on high alert and actively preparing for the possibility of a new phase of ‘Operation Vermillion’. This is the strongest indication yet that New Delhi is fully prepared to give a decisive response to any new provocative action from Pakistan.
Addressing reporters after inspecting the passing out parade of the 150th course at the National Defense Academy (NDA) in Pune, the Army Chief declared that ‘Operation Sindoor’ is not over yet, and the current situation only reflects a temporary pause in hostilities.
General Dwivedi said, “Operation Sindoor is still ongoing. There is a temporary pause in hostilities. The Indian Army and the three services are well preparing for ‘Operation Sindoor 2.0’, if it happens.”
‘Prepare for increased tension’
These comments come a few weeks after the military operation conducted under ‘Operation Vermillion’. The operation was launched in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 last year, in which 26 civilians lost their lives. The operation involved Indian armed forces striking terrorist hideouts and military targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), in one of the most significant cross-border military counter-operations in recent years.
General Dwivedi’s comments indicate that even though active military clashes have reduced, the armed forces are prepared for an escalation and are using the current pause to strengthen their operational preparedness. The Army Chief emphasized that the Indian Army is working on enhancing jointness between the Army, Navy and Air Force, while preparing for the nature of future conflicts.
“Currently, we are focusing on enhancing our synergy among the three services and preparing ourselves for future wars,” he said. Highlighting the challenges posed by modern battlefields, General Dwivedi said that technological advancements have made military operations more transparent than ever.
“Twenty-four hours a day, the battlefield is so transparent that every single movement is known to the other side (enemy). Therefore, we have to be very cautious in terms of our deployment, utilization and necessary measures for the safety of our troops as well as civilians living in the border areas,” he said.
‘New conflicts will not be limited to battlefields’
The Army Chief also stressed the growing role of public trust in modern conflicts, especially in this era of ‘information warfare’. He said, “The information war is successful only when the entire country stands together and trusts those who are giving information. If that happens, I can assure you that the country which trusts each other and all these stakeholders will always win the war.”
General Dwivedi used the occasion to outline the Army’s comprehensive transformation roadmap, and said ‘Operation Sindoor’ has proved the importance of integrated operations and multi-domain warfare. According to the Army Chief, future conflicts will not be limited to just traditional battlefields, but will also increasingly spread into cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains.
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