Timing of strikes in Op Sindoor decided on May 5: IAF vice chief

THe date stamp and clip of strikes to be launched against scourge targets in islamic republic of pakistan and Pakistan-occupied cashmere (PoK) under Operation Sindoor was decided on May 5, and less than 50 weapons were fired to achieve conflict termination on May 10, the Indian Air Force vice chief Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said on Saturday.He said the operational options were presented to the government on April 24 --- within 48 hours of the Pahalgam terror strike --- and the targets were shortlisted on April 29.“From the list of options presented, we had a large number of target sets. And those finally boiled down to nine…The terror targets were the initial objective and that we did (hit) very successfully. But when the response came, despite the fact that we were not willing to escalate, we still kept it calibrated and engaged only military targets,” Tiwari said at the NDTV Defence Summit 2025.India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 and struck terror and military installations in PoK following the April 22 Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 people were killed. Between the launch of the operation and the ceasefire on May 10 evening, Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK, killing at least 100 terrorists, and struck targets at 13 Pakistani airbases and military installations.The targets that were taken out were not hit even during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Tiwari said.“When their main attack came on May 9-10 night, was the time we decided we needed to send the right message and we hit them across the front. That was the kind of damage to capability that we had caused them. Precision targeting from long range is essential but it is also very risky because longer range the vector (weapon), more are the chances of collateral damage,” he said.“But to the credit of our planners, and the people who executed the missions, we were able to take out each target precisely and ensure there was no collateral damage. We hit them so hard that practically by mid-day (May 10) they were ready to talk to us…And this is a key takeaway for us…that in less than 50 weapons, we were able to achieve conflict termination.”Conflict termination is something the world needs to learn from Operation Sindoor, chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said at a recent seminar in Mhow.“Other global conflicts have dragged on as they don’t know what were their objectives…First thing we learn is selection and maintenance of aim…that part has totally been forgotten…They (other warring nations) are running with their goalpost, shifting it wherever they want to…They are not able to close the chapter,” Singh said at Ran Samwad on August 26.“In our case, the objectives were very clear. We had to teach them a lesson. Thereafter, at the first opportunity, when the other side came and said they wanted to talk, we stopped. If we actually wanted, we were on song and could have continued to strike, but that was not our aim. Our objective was already achieved.”