New Delhi [India], January 13 (ANI): Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said Operation Sindoor disrupted Pakistan's decision-making and forced it to step back after a 22-minute precision strike and calibrated military actions achieved India's politico-military objectives.

Speaking on the operation, General Dwivedi said the first major turning point came from a precision strike carried out in a narrow time window, which left terror networks and their supporters struggling to respond effectively.

'The first turning point was the 22-minute strike we carried out on the terror targets. The strike has caused their decision-making cycle was completely disrupted, and it took them time to understand what was happening...this led to mismanagement as they started throwing stones, missiles...we gave a calibrated response to them, because we don't want to increase the war, because we attained our politico-military aim..,' he said.

He added that Pakistan had full visibility of India's military posture through satellite surveillance, and once the broader picture became clear, the adversary chose to step back.

'There was a second turning point... On the morning of the 10th May, certain instructions were given to all three branches of the armed forces regarding what would happen if this war escalated. Those who needed to understand it... They (Pakistan) had complete information from satellites about which ship, which strike or pivot, which core unit, or which aircraft was moving where--when they connected the dots, they said that the time has come to stop this war here,' he said.

General Dwivedi said Operation Sindoor also offered important lessons in narrative management, credibility and information discipline, stressing that communication has become as critical as operational preparedness in modern warfare.

'I would like to say that we learned many lessons from Operation Sindoor. But we had already done a lot of preparation even before that. We learned that whatever news you give.. it must have credibility. Because in the long run, having credibility is very important. Whatever news you give, there should be consistency. The third thing is that there should be no vacuum in any narrative management domain or cognitive domain. If there is a vacuum, then negative news spreads very fast,' he said.

He explained that strict information control was maintained during the operation to ensure a single, credible source of communication.

'The fourth thing is how much importance you give to negative news. I want to tell you that since April 22nd, all the Indian Army Twitter handles that were facing the Western Front, were shut down so that no one could say that the Western Command said this, and by the time we check with the Western Command, that news has already spread everywhere. The single source of truth was ADG StratCom. That's why you'll see that our credibility was very high..,' he added.

Providing an operational update, the Army Chief said that 139 ceasefire violations were recorded in 2025, with 124 occurring during Operation Sindoor, though none were major violations.

'In 2025, 139 ceasefire violations which took place, 124 of them were during the Operation Sindoor... No major ceasefire violation has taken place. As far as forces are concerned, as of today, we are not relenting at all, no forces are coming back because in my wisdom today, 140 terrorists, approximately, are within the hinterland, and out of which 10 could be the local terrorists, and the rest all could be the Pakistani terrorists..,' the COAS said.

On gender issues in the armed forces, General Dwivedi stressed the Army's push towards gender neutrality, saying women should be viewed as strong and capable rather than vulnerable.

'Women cannot be seen as a vulnerable commodity, it has to be strong enough. If we look at our society as of today, the society still has girls' schools, boys' schools, girls' colleges, and boys' colleges and the laws also, which are of a particular kind. As the Army is concerned, the Army is looking at not gender equality, but gender neutrality,' he said.

He said challenges remain due to medical standards and broader social factors.

'Today, I am not able to ensure gender neutrality because there are medical authorities which do not allow me and the team of composition, where the females also say no, sir, it's not possible. I'll give you the example of CPT 26. I wanted the standards to be the same, but I have not been able to make sure because there have been no positive indications from those females who are serving also,' he said.

He added that progress would be assessed over the coming years.

'Now, I am having a super excellent column. So in three to four years, I will get to know how many female officers and other ranks are able to reach that level. If they're able to reach that level, definitely we will open up firstly the supporting arms, which are not open, and then the arms, and then of course the special forces. So it's a social change. It's a sequential change and a welcome change...,' he added.

On the situation in Bangladesh, the Army Chief said India is monitoring developments closely while keeping communication channels open with Bangladesh's military leadership.

'First of all, it is important for us to understand what kind of government is in place in Bangladesh. If it is an interim government, we need to see whether the actions it is taking are meant for the next 4-5 years, or only for the next 4-5 months. We have to judge whether there is any need for us to react immediately or not...Secondly, as of today, all three Services have kept their communication channels fully open,' he said.

He added that the Indian Army remains in regular contact with its counterparts.

'The Indian Army has multiple channels of communication open, and I remain in regular touch with their Chief there. In the same way, we are also in contact through our other channels as well. We had sent a delegation there, which met everyone on the ground. Similarly, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff have also spoken. The intention is to ensure that there is no miscommunication or misunderstanding,' he said.

Reassuring on India's intent, General Dwivedi said India's actions are not directed against Bangladesh.

'I want to assure you that, as of today, whatever actions are being taken by the three services are not directed against India in any way. As far as capability development is concerned, it is something that is an ongoing process. India is also doing it, and other countries are also doing it. As far as our preparation is concerned, we are closely monitoring the situation there..,' he added. (ANI)