‘Army Only Place Where There Is No Nepotism’: CDS General Anil Chauhan

Last Updated:September 18, 2025, 19:07 IST

General Anil Chauhan highlights Bhartiya fauj as free from nepotism, urges youth to join.

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan,| File Image/PTI

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Thursday asserted that the ‘Bhartiya fauj’ (Indian Defence Forces) is the only place where there is no nepotism, as he urged children to aspire to join the armed forces to serve the nation and explore places.

While interacting with school children at an event in Ranchi, CDS General Chauhan said that the armed forces made maximum efforts this year to rescue citizens amid a high number of natural disasters.

“The ‘fauj’ (army) is the only place where there is no nepotism… You should aspire to join the armed forces if you want to serve the nation, and explore the country and the world,” he said as quoted by news agency PTI.

While speaking about Operation Sindoor, General Chauhan said that the first strike on the terror camps in Pakistan was conducted at 1 am on May 7 to avoid civilian casualties.

“That is the darkest time, it would be the most difficult to get satellite images, photographs, and collect evidence. Yet, we struck at 1 or 1:30 at night. Why was that? It was for two reasons. First, we had confidence in our capabilities that even at night we would be able to get imagery. And the second important reason was that we wanted to avoid civilian casualties,” he said. 

He further said that the best time to strike the terror camps would have been 5:30–6:00 AM, when daylight starts, but at that time, the first Azaan or the first prayer takes place, and in Bahawalpur and Muridke, there might be a lot of movement at that time, so many civilians could have been killed.

Operation Sindoor

In the early hours of May 7, Indian Defence Forces launched precision strikes at nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under “Operation Sindoor” in response to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack which claimed 26 lives.

In a late-night press statement on May 7, the Indian Defence Ministry said, “A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.”

The strikes killed over 100 terrorists, including 10 family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and four close aides.

(With inputs from agencies)

About the Author

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More

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