Key Points

He also appreciated the decision-makers’ focus on the minutest of details related to the selection of targets for the operation, the build-up of intelligence, the collaboration of intelligence, and the synergy of operations between not only the three services, but also the External Affairs Ministry, the Home Ministry, and all the departments of the government.

Earlier, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi released Lt Gen Dhillon’s (retd) book, Operation Sindoor: The Untold Story of India’s Deep Strikes Inside Pakistan. The book chronicles India’s decisive multi-domain operation across the Line of Control (LoC) earlier this year.

Speaking at the launch, Gen Dwivedi stressed that the operation was not limited to its widely recognised 88-hour span. “You may be thinking the war finished on 10th May. No. It continued for a long time because so many decisions had to be made. When to start, when to stop, how much to apply in terms of time, space, and resources… all these things were under constant discussion,” he said.

Talking about his book, Lt Gen Dhillon (retd) said, “This book covers everything after independence, the build-up to Pulwama and Pahalgam, and then what's the difference between Pulwama and Pahalgam, and why Pahalgam had to happen, and then from Pahalgam onwards right up to 6th, 7th May, the launch of Operation Sindoor.”

“I think we are singularly honoured, and I am very lucky to have the chief amongst us today. Then the book builds up to the planning, the selection of targets, the ifs, buts, whys, and hows of the targets and then comes the target-to-weapon matching,” he said.

He added that the book also captures aspects about the most suitable weapons for the selected targets, the element of surprise, the speedy execution and, afterwards, the impact, the terms of reference and Pakistan's response, and then India’s kinetic response, even later on the 10th of May, early morning.

- IANS