On Saturday, Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (Retd) gave his insights regarding India's Operation Sindoor, emphasizing the strategic importance and success of the operation.
While speaking to ANI, Dhillon pointed out that India made accurate strikes at 11 airbases in Pakistan on May 10, mentioning that none of India's missiles were neutralized by Pakistan's air defence systems.
"...On 10th May, when we struck 11 airbases with precision, not a single missile of ours could be intercepted by Pakistani air defence - that is victory. When not a single aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force could fly out and intercept our projectiles - that is victory," Dhillon told ANI.
He also highlighted Pakistan's failure to respond to India's attack, stating that Pakistan's DGMO phoned India's DGMO at 3:35 PM on May 10, making a request for a ceasefire. Pakistan went so far as to approach nations such as the United States and Saudi Arabia to broker negotiations, compared to India's policy of not inviting third-party intervention.
"When Pakistan DGMO calls up our DGMO at 3.35 and 10th May and requests, literally begging for a ceasefire - that is victory. When they go running to America or to Saudi Arabia, asking for mediation and a ceasefire - that is victory. When we say that we don't want a third-party mediation as a policy - that is victory," said Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (Retd).
Operation Sindoor was initiated following the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike, which killed a minimum of 26 people. India conducted precision attacks on terror assets in Pakistan and PoJK, while effectively pushing back Pakistani aggression and striking at its airbases.
Lt Gen Dhillon also faulted Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir's behavior during the operation, citing that Munir took shelter in a bunker and promoted himself to the rank of Field Marshal so that he would not be scrutinized by the masses.
"The only Army chief who went into a bunker during the operations and the only Army chief who elevated himself to a field marshal just to avoid public scrutiny. Also, the only army chief to be accompanying the head of state to the SCO meeting," the retired army official said in an exclusive interview with ANI.
Munir was given the rank of Field Marshal on May 20, thirteen days after the Indian strikes on terror camps and ten days after the ceasefire pact. He is the second man in Pakistan's history to receive this rank, following former President Ayub Khan, and the first Army chief of free Pakistan to do so.
Lt Gen Dhillon added, "Only the army chief to be called by the American president for lunch. So much for democracy, so much for sporting the democratic structure. Pakistan Army is the only Army in the world which has never won a war, the only war in the world after WWII had 93,000 surrenders."
Lt Gen Dhillon had earlier held the position of Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DG DIA) and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence) to the Chief of Defence Staff between March 2020 and January 2022. He is the present chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi.
