- By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
- Sat, 30 Aug 2025 04:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Operation Sindoor: The Indian Air Force on Saturday exposed Pakistan’s hollow claims of “inflicting heavy damage” to India during the military confrontation between the two neighbouring nations in May this year. Sharing new details of the Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory strikes on terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, said that India brought Pakistan to its knees without even using 50 weapons from its arsenal.
Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said the ceasefire was secured without India deploying its full military might. He noted that the Armed Forces had multiple options in sight, and after thorough analysis, they narrowed them down to nine final targets.
"Key takeaway for us, that in less than 50 weapons, we were able to achieve conflict elimination. So this is the essential part which I want you to take away. It is very easy to start a war, but not easy enough to end it,” Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said while addressing the NDTV Defence Summit.
“And that was an important consideration to keep in mind so that our forces were activated, they were deployed, and they were ready for any eventuality that would have come about," the Vice Chief of Air Staff added.
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‘Initially Faced Trouble’
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Rajesh Singh said that when India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists, the forces faced some difficulties on the first day. "But after that, we improved with each passing morning. During that period, I also played tennis, which helped me ease stress," he recalled.
“I did not take part in the operation. Initially, I did not even go to the war room. However, I kept getting updates about what was happening on the border. We did not suffer any major losses during this period. We were confident from the very first day that if the enemy made any further move, we would destroy him,” Defence Secretary Rajesh Singh said.
Operation Sindoor was a major success for India in its fight against cross-border terrorism. During the entire duration of the operation, which lasted for 4 days, India inflicted heavy damage to the Pakistan Army’s Defence systems. India’s strikes also destroyed nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
On the morning of May 10, the Indian Air Force fired the Brahmos missiles targeting the major bases of Pakistan like Jacobabad, Bholari and Skardu. By the evening, Pakistan was on the ceasefire table, requesting the Indian counterpart for a ceasefire.