'We played chess in Operation Sindoor': Indian Army Chief reveals planning, execution of India-Pak op

India's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Upendra Dwivedi, revealed details about Operation Sindoor, describing it as a 'game of chess'. While speaking at IIT Madras, he mentioned that during Operation Sindoor, they played chess.

The Army chief stressed that they did not know what Pakistan's next move was going to be, and hence what they would do.

"In Operation Sindoor, we played chess... We did not know what the enemy's next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called greyzone," he said, at the inauguration of Agnishodh, the Indian Army's Research Cell at IIT Madras.

The Army chief further explained what a Greyzone is. “It means that we are not going for the conventional operations. What we are doing is just short of a conventional operation... We were making the chess moves, and he (the enemy) was also making the chess moves. Somewhere we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own, but that's life is all about...”

He then said that the planning for the Operation Sindoor began on April 23, the day after the Pahalgam terror attack, which shook the nation.

The Army chief recalled that it was the first time Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, "Enough is enough" and gave the "free hand" to the Army.

"All three chiefs were very clear that something had to be done. The free hand was given, 'you decide what is to be done.' That is the kind of confidence, political direction, and political clarity we saw for the first time... That is what raises your morale. That is how it helped our army commander-in-chiefs to be on the ground and act as per their wisdom," he said.

Army chief Dwivedi continued to explain how they planned, conceptualised, and executed the seven targets and terrorists in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

"On the 25th, we visited the Northern Command, where we thought, planned, conceptualised, and executed the seven targets out of the nine that were destroyed, and a lot of terrorists were killed. On April 29, we met the Prime Minister for the first time...," he stated.

Then the Army chief sheds light on the significance of the name "Operation Sindoor", he said, "It is important that a small name, Op Sindoor, connects the whole nation... That is something which galvanised the whole nation... That is the reason the whole nation was saying Why have you stopped? That question was being asked and it has been amply answered..."