Played Chess, Delivered Checkmate: Army Chief on Outsmarting Pak in Op Sindoor

Describing Operation Sindoor as a high-stakes chess match where the enemy’s moves were uncertain, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi said India successfully delivered a decisive “checkmate” against Pakistan. Speaking at an event at IIT Madras, the Army chief acknowledged the unconventional, high-risk nature of the mission, which operated in a “greyzone” just short of all-out conventional war.

“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,” General Dwivedi remarked. He explained that this approach involved calculated risks and strategic maneuvers from both sides. “We were making the chess moves, and he (enemy) was also making the chess moves. 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 added.

The Army chief attributed the success of the anti-terror operation, launched on May 7 in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam attack, to clear political resolve from the highest levels of government. He recalled a crucial meeting where the military leadership was given full autonomy. “On (April) 23rd, we all sat down.

This is the first time that RM (Defence Minister Rajnath Singh) said, ‘enough is enough’. All three chiefs were very clear that something had to be done. The free hand was given, ‘you decide what is to be done.’

That is the kind of confidence, political direction and political clarity we saw for the first time,” Dwivedi stated.General Dwivedi also addressed what he termed Pakistan’s “fake narrative management,” highlighting its efforts to portray itself as the victor despite its losses. He pointed to Islamabad’s decision to elevate its Army chief, Asim Munir, to the rank of five-star general and field marshal as an example of this. “Narrative management system is something which we realise in a big way because victory is in mind.

If you ask a Pakistani whether you lost or won, he’d say, ‘Army chief has become Field Marshal. We must have won only’,” the Army Chief said. He concluded by noting that the name ‘Operation Sindoor’ itself played a key role in unifying the country, saying it “galvanised the whole nation.”