Pak asked for Ceasefire: Parl informed ahead of discussion
New Delhi, Jul 25: Asserting that Operation Sindoor “still continues”, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Friday said the country’s military preparedness must remain at a “very high” level, round-the-clock and throughout the year.
This came even as opposition parties have agreed to the agenda of taking up a special discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor on Monday in Lok Sabha and the next day in Rajya Sabha, while the Centre informed Parliament today that India and Pakistan agreed on May 10 for a cessation of firing and military activity as a result of “direct contact” between the director generals of military operations (DGMOs) of both nations, which was “initiated by the Pakistani side”, in a strong rebuttal to US President Donald Trump’s claims of brokering a ceasefire between the two countries.
In his keynote address at a defence seminar hosted at Subroto Park in New Delhi, the CDS said the country’s military preparedness must remain at a “very high” level, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year, as the Operation Sindoor “still continues”.
The CDS also said the military in future will also need “information warriors, technology warriors and scholar warriors”.
And, in an emerging landscape of warfare, a future soldier will need to be a mix of all three “info, tech and scholar warriors”, the CDS said.
The seminar on ‘Aerospace Power: Preserving India’s Sovereignty and Furthering National Interests’ was held under the aegis of the ‘No.4 Warfare and Aerospace Strategy Programme (WASP)’.
The CDS said there are no runners-up in a war, and any military must be constantly alert and maintain a high degree of operational preparedness.
“An example is Operation Sindoor, which still continues. Our preparedness level has to be very high, 24×7, 365 days (a year),” Gen Chauhan said.
India launched Operation Sindoor early May 7 and decimated multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
Pakistan also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.
The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.
The CDS also emphasised the importance of learning about both ‘Shastra’ (warfare) and ‘Shaastra’ (knowledge system).
Gen Chauhan defined a scholar warrior as a military professional who combines intellectual depth and combat skills, who possesses strong academic knowledge and practical military expertise that enable him to analyse complex situations and address “diverse challenges to meet military aims and objectives”.
Tracing the relationship between a scholar and a warrior, from ancient Indian history, through the World Wars up to recent conflicts, the CDS highlighted that today’s military professional must be a “well-calibrated mix of a scholar warrior, a techno warrior and an info warrior”.
A technology warrior to understand and apply the cutting-edge technologies and AI that are changing the nature of warfare, and an “info warrior” to shape narratives, counter disinformation and dominate the invisible battlespace of perception.
Elucidating the changing character of warfare, especially as evinced through recent and ongoing conflicts, the CDS underscored the important role of a scholar warrior in modern warfare, emphasising their role in preserving India’s sovereignty and furthering national interests.
Operation Sindoor was a critical focus and found ample mention during the two thematic sessions.
The Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) also shared some photos of the event on X.
“He complimented the Indian Air Force, College of Air Warfare and @CAPS_INDIA for constantly evolving the scope of the program. CDS awarded Certificates to 12 officers of Indian Armed Forces for their contribution in taking forward the strategic thought process,” it said.
IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi were also present on the occasion.
The CDS in his address also said, “If we look at modern warfare today, we are seeing unprecedented pace give by relentless march of technology. Turbulent geopolitical shifts happening, battlespaces are no long longer a linear front, but transparent, swift, multi-domain arenas.”
“We are now on the cusp of what I have been calling a third evolution in military affairs…a convergence of kinetic and non-kinetic, first and second generation with third generation of warfare, convergence of tactical, operational and strategic kind of domain,” he said, adding that a warrior today needs to master all the three level of warfare, tactical, operational and strategic levels and all domains — land, air, sea, cyberspace and cognitive.
Gen Chauhan underlined that only a warrior with “superhuman capabilities” can decode this complex mode that may connect a drone strike to a cyber breach, a narrative war to an orbital disruption, and “still have moral courage to lead men through fog and fire”.
He emphasised that future wars will demand “hybrid warriors” who can fight on borders, manoeuvre in deserts, plan counter-insurgency operations in dense jungles, neutralise drones and decode cyber intrusions.
WASP was conceived by Indian Air Force to cultivate critical thinking in its future leaders. It prepares officers to think through politico-military environmental layers, to interpret the frameworks within which decisions are made, and to assess outcomes including second-order effects, the defence ministry said in a statement.
This edition of WASP featured the participation of twelve officers, comprising ten from the Indian Air Force and two from the Indian Navy, it said.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties have agreed to the agenda of taking up a special discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor on Monday in Lok Sabha and the next day in Rajya Sabha, brightening up the prospect of normalcy returning to Parliament after the virtual washout of first-week proceedings.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs S Jaishankar are expected to speak amid indications that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may use the much-anticipated debate to turn up the heat on the Opposition, which looks to corner the government over alleged intelligence failures and US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating a “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday blamed the Opposition for the washout of the first week of the Monsoon session, accusing it of not allowing Parliament to function despite the government agreeing to its demand for a discussion on these issues right from the session’s start.
Asked about the Opposition’s demand that Parliament discuss the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, he said all issues cannot be taken up at once and the government will take a call on other matters gradually.
One has to follow the rules guiding discussion in Parliament, he said, when asked about the Opposition’s insistence.
With the electoral rolls revision exercise being seen in the government circles as the Election Commission carrying out its mandate, the possibility of a discussion on the contentious issue is slim, sources said.
The Opposition has alleged that the drive is aimed at helping the BJP-led alliance, which is in power in poll-bound Bihar as well.
The decision to start a special discussion on “Terrorist attack in Pahalgam and in response to that Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian armed forces” was agreed to at a meeting of leaders of different parties chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday, Rijiju said.
Special discussions, which have been held occasionally in the past on topics like the Constitution to mark the 75th year of its adoption, are not guided by any particular rule of the House.
From the treasury benches, speakers are likely to include its members who were part of the seven all-party delegations which had travelled to over 30 world capitals to convey India’s robust stand against terrorism and Pakistan’s role in abetting it.
Both Houses will each hold 16-hour discussion on the twin issues which have dominated public attention in India and drawn concerns from world capitals.
Terrorists linked to Pakistan had shot down 26 civilians, mostly tourists, in the popular hill station of Pahalgam, on April 22, and India retaliated by targeting terror sites in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, leading to a four-day conflict between the two countries.
India said the decision to stop military action was agreed mutually between the two countries but the mediation claims of Trump, who broke on social media the news of a “ceasefire”, have given the Opposition a handle to target the government.
It has also raised the alleged intelligence lapses behind the terror attack and cited some reports of India losing a few of its fighter jets to question the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded Operation Sindoor as an unmitigated success, asserting that the armed forces achieved their 100 per cent objectives and ‘Made in India’ weapons proved their mettle during the conflict.
Asked if Modi will speak in Parliament during the discussion, another key demand of the Opposition, Rijiju said the government cannot decide the speakers of opposition parties, and vice versa.
He expressed hope that the Opposition will allow Parliament to function from next week, lamenting the waste of resources and efforts going in preparing answers for the questions to be asked by MPs during Question Hours, which did not take place in the first week due to protests.
Also, the Centre informed Parliament on Friday that India and Pakistan agreed on May 10 for a cessation of firing and military activity as a result of “direct contact” between the director generals of military operations (DGMOs) of both nations, which was “initiated by the Pakistani side”.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was asked whether it is a fact that the “ceasefire between India and Pakistan was arrived at the behest of the US interference just after three days of operations against Pakistan when the Indian Armed Forces had the upper hand in the conflict”.
In a written response to the query in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said, “All our interlocutors were given a common message that India’s approach was focused, measured and non-escalatory.”
The MoS said India and Pakistan agreed on May 10 for a “cessation of firing and military activity as a result of direct contact between the DGMOs of both nations. This contact was initiated by the Pakistani side”.
India had “already achieved on 08 May the main objectives” that it had set forth in terms of destroying designated terrorism infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
Between April 22 when the Pahalgam terrorist attack happened and May 10, there were a “number of diplomatic conversations with various countries at different levels, including with the United States,” the minister said in his response.
“With specific regard to the US, it was conveyed to Vice President J D Vance on May 9 that India would ‘appropriately respond’ if Pakistan launched a major attack. The issue of our trade discussions did not come up in the context of conversations pertaining to the conflict,” he added.
As regards any proposal for third-party mediation, “our long standing position remains that any outstanding issue with Pakistan will be discussed only bilaterally. This has been made clear to all nations, including by the Prime Minister to the US President”, he said.
