No sanctuary safe in Pak, India will choose time of strike: Armed Forces

No terrorist sanctuary in Pakistan is safe and India is prepared to hit all targets at a time and in a manner of its choosing, the country's top military brass said on the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror infrastructure across the border.

Addressing a tri-services press conference in Jaipur, senior military officials made it clear that Op Sindoor has set a new template for India's response, asserting that acts of terrorism will have consequences and no misadventure will go unanswered.

The conference was addressed by Air Marshal AK Bharti (Deputy Chief of Air Staff), Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai (Deputy Chief of Army Staff), Vice Admiral AN Pramod (DG Naval Operations), and Lt Gen Zubin Minwalla (Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff).


"No sanctuary across the Line of Control is safe. We will hit everything. We will go after everything. And I think that has been made clear in the new normal that the Prime Minister stated last year. But the conditions, the timing, and the method will be ours," Lt Gen Ghai said.

He added that a large number of indigenous weapon systems were deployed during the operation, validating their capabilities. "The BrahMos, Akash, advanced surveillance and targeting systems, along with homegrown ammunition and spares, all played a decisive role. Indigenous equipment meant not just self-reliance, but also the flexibility to tailor systems to our operational requirements," he said.

Air Marshal Bharti said the political objective was very clear and that the armed forces were granted full operational freedom to undertake the strikes. He added that, according to the Indian Air Force's assessment, Pakistan lost at least 13 aircraft, both in the air and on the ground, and suffered damage to 11 of its airbases, which was a carefully calibrated message delivered by India.

Vice Admiral Pramod said the operation also called out the bluff behind Pakistan's nuclear blackmail. "By striking terror hubs in the heart of Pakistan using long-range precision weapons, India effectively called the bluff on Pakistan's nuclear blackmail. The growing relevance of uncrewed and autonomous systems, as seen in recent conflicts, reinforces the need for their accelerated integration into our operational framework," he said.