CDS General Anil Chauhan
NEW DELHI: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday called for a three-pronged approach to deter terrorism. According to General Chauhan, who was speaking at an IIT Bombay event, India must prepare itself for short but intense conflicts, longer land-centric conflicts, and create an “asymmetry with the weaker adversary,” a reference to Pakistan. “The question is what kind of threats and challenges India should be prepared for. I think this should be based on two major facts. One, both our adversaries—one is a nuclear weapon state and the other is a nuclear-armed state. Hence, we should not allow that level (nuclear) of deterrence to be breached,” he said. The country’s senior-most military officer was referring to China and Pakistan, respectively.“Hence, in my view, we should be prepared to fight short-duration, high-intensity conflicts to deter terrorism—something like Operation Sindoor. Second, we should be prepared for a land-centric, long-duration conflict because we have land disputes, though we should try and avoid it,” he added.Elaborating on the third approach, General Chauhan remarked, “We must exploit new domains and create asymmetry with our weaker adversary, while ensuring these asymmetries are not exploited by other nations. Terrorism will remain a threat and will require both defensive and offensive responses.”The CDS further observed that modern warfare is becoming shorter, yet “faster and smarter,” citing Operation Sindoor as an example. “Warfare in the new domains is faster and smarter. It is also shorter in duration, and the tempo of such warfare is very, very high. Decisions are compressed in time, and the effects of war are felt almost instantly. This was clearly visible in Operation Sindoor, a conflict that lasted only about four days and gave India a decisive victory,” he noted. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan were engaged in a brief but intense conflict from May 7 to 10 following Operation Sindoor, under which the Indian armed forces targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The operation came in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists. The hostilities ended on May 10, with a ceasefire declared following a request from Islamabad. Go to Source
