Operation Sindoor was an unconventional military campaign, marked by uncertainty over the enemy’s next steps, making it comparable to a strategic game of chess, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi said. Despite the unpredictability, he asserted, India achieved a decisive checkmate and secured victory over Pakistan, while condemning Islamabad’s attempts to spin the outcome in its favour through narrative management.
Explaining the nature of the operation, General Dwivedi said it fell within the “grey zone” — a space short of conventional warfare. “In Operation Sindoor, we played chess… We did not know what the enemy’s next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called greyzone… We were making the chess moves, and he (enemy) was also making the chess moves,” he noted.
Speaking at IIT Madras, the Army chief added that some manoeuvres amounted to delivering a checkmate, while others involved calculated risks in pursuit of victory. “Somewhere we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own — but that’s what life is all about,” he remarked.
