New Delhi:
Losses suffered in a military conflict are not as important as the targeted outcome of a mission or operation, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said Tuesday afternoon in a special lecture on ‘Future Wars and Warfare’ organised by the Savitribai Phule University in Pune.
Asked about the armed forces’ losses during Operation Sindoor – India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack – the General referenced the loss of wickets in a cricket match, saying that if a team were to “win by any means, then there’s no question about how many wickets…”
“When I was asked about losses on our side… I said these are not important. The results are important. It would not be very correct to talk about losses. Suppose you go to a cricket match and you win, by any means, then there’s no question about how many wickets, balls, players…”
“We can take out this data and share it… we can tell you how many aircraft were destroyed, how many radars were hit…” he trailed off, seeming to emphasise prioritising outcome over losses.
The General’s reference to losses during Operation Sindoor follows remarks last week at an event in Singapore, in which he confirmed, for the first time, India had suffered some setbacks.
This was after rumours persisted that Pakistan air defences had shot down multiple Indian fighter jets, including some of the newly purchased, French-made Rafale aircraft.
India had earlier dismissed any talk of Rafales, or any other fighter jet, being shot down.
However, at the Singapore event General Chauhan told Bloomberg TV, “What is important is not the jet being (shot) down… but why they were downed.” He did not, though, specify the number of fighter jets India had lost, only dismissing Islamabad’s claim that it had destroyed six.
“Why they were (shot) down… what mistakes were made – those are important,” General Chauhan said when asked about the fighter jets. “Numbers are not important.”
India’s top military official told his Pune audience the focus of Operation Sindoor, its designated outcome, was to stop the Pak deep state from launching further terror attacks against India.
The Pahalgam attack, the General said, was an act of “profound cruelty… which is unacceptable in this modern world” and had led to “a kind of hatred (in India for Pak) …a huge revulsion”.
“What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims… because all were killed with headshots in front of their families and their children, and they were shot in the name of religion. This caused a huge revulsion… it revived memories because India has been the victim of a maximum number of terror acts… almost 20,000 people have been killed.”
Terror attacks from across the border – a recurring tragedy despite New Delhi having repeatedly flagged the issue of the Pak deep state funding, training, and otherwise supporting terror attacks on India – had to stop, the General said.
