'Operation Sindoor is not over yet': Navy Chief cautions, will hit back hard if provoked

Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, India's chief of Naval staff, on Sunday (Dec 07) said that Operation Sindoor is still underway and the Indian armed forces only temporarily halted the anti-terror campaign launched in May 2025. Lauding the Indian government's actions, Tripathi cautioned that if anyone attempts to attack the country, the armed forces will respond firmly.

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"Although Operation Sindoor has been halted, it is not over yet. You are also aware of the actions taken by the Indian government at that time. I realise that the citizens of this country are proud of the Armed Forces. If anyone tries to cast an evil eye on us, we will give them a befitting reply - we proved this during Operation Sindoor, and we will prove it in the future too...," said the Navy Chief while attending the Armed Forces Flag Day function 2025.

On Thursday, Delhi observed Navy Day with solemn ceremonies, as top military leaders paid tribute to India’s maritime heroes. At the National War Memorial, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, and other senior officers laid a wreath to honour the sailors who defeated Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.

Earlier, the Navy chief stated that operations in the Western Arabian Sea have been ongoing continuously for the past 7-8 months, resulting in reduced movement of merchant ships heading towards Pakistan. This, in turn, led to an increase in insurance premiums and put pressure on the neighbouring country's already fragile economy.

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 in response to a terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives. Under the operation, Indian forces conducted coordinated strikes targeted at terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), leading to a four-day standoff with the neighbouring country and finally concluding with a ceasefire on May 10.

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New Delhi also put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” ends cross‑border terrorism. The move marked a sharp shift in India’s strategic posture toward its neighbour.