Army avoided strike during Namaz in Operation Sindoor: Dwivedi

New Delhi, Apr 10: Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi on Thursday said the timing of India’s cross-border strikes under Operation Sindoor was carefully chosen to avoid hitting targets when prayers were being offered, underlining a calibrated approach during the operation.
Speaking at the ‘Ran Samvad 2026’ forum in Bengaluru, the Army chief said the armed forces had the operational flexibility to strike at any hour but consciously avoided specific timings.
“We could have struck at 2 am or 4 am, at any given time. But we ensured we did not act when people might be offering Namaz at the terrorist camps,” he said, adding that the decision reflected both operational planning and broader considerations.
Dwivedi remarked that the forces chose a window when such religious activity was not taking place, noting that “there is one God for all,” while explaining the rationale behind the timing.
Operation Sindoor was launched in May last year following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. Indian forces carried out precision strikes on terror launchpads across the border and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The Army chief said the operation marked a significant step in enhancing jointness among the armed forces, describing it as a “case study” in evolving military coordination. However, he added that the next objective is to achieve deeper integration and fusion across domains.
He also highlighted the growing importance of non-kinetic aspects of warfare, stating that a portion of the effort during the operation was focused on countering misinformation.
“Nearly 15 per cent of the effort went into managing disinformation,” he said, adding that the military has since taken steps to strengthen capabilities in this area.
According to him, new structures have been initiated to deal with information warfare and psychological aspects of conflict, reflecting the changing nature of modern warfare.
Dwivedi further said that challenges remain in synchronising responses across strategic, operational and tactical levels, particularly in dealing with what he described as “grey-zone” threats.
Such tactics, he said, often operate below the threshold of conventional warfare and are aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities without triggering a full-scale conflict.
The remarks come amid continued focus on evolving military doctrines in response to hybrid and multi-domain threats. (KNS)