Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Friday issued a stern warning to Pakistan, saying the country must end state-sponsored terrorism or face threats to its very existence in history and geography.
Speaking at an event in Rajasthan, he cautioned that India would not exercise the restraint it did during Operation Sindoor 1.0 if provoked again. “If Pakistan wants to secure its place in world history and geography, it must stop state-backed terror. We will respond more strongly than we did during Operation Sindoor 1.0 if pushed again,” he said, reports UNB citing India Today.
Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, saw Indian forces carry out strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and inside Pakistan. In retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 civilian lives.
Pakistan retaliated with drone and missile strikes over the following days.
General Dwivedi urged troops to remain on standby, hinting at possible future operations. His comments follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warning that Operation Sindoor remains active and future provocations will face stronger retaliation.
Meanwhile, Air Force chief A P Singh revealed for the second time after the august statement that 8–10 Pakistani fighter jets, including F-16s and JF-17s, were destroyed in the May clashes—while dismissing Pakistan’s claims of downing Indian aircraft as “fascinating tales.”
The first time the Indian air chief had claimed that Pakistan’s jets were downed during the four-day escalation, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had dismissed the “implausible” Indian assertions, offering instead to open both countries’ air fleets to independent verification.
“The belated assertions made by the Indian Air Force chief regarding alleged destruction of Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor are as implausible as they are ill-timed,” Khawaja Asif had said in a sharply worded August statement. “It is also ironic how senior Indian military officers are being used as the faces of monumental failure caused by the strategic shortsightedness of Indian politicians,” reports Dawn.
