The Indian Air Force (IAF) forced Pakistan to seek an end to hostilities within hours of a powerful counter-offensive during Operation Sindoor, Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said on Saturday.
Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit, Air Marshal Tiwari recounted how precision strikes using less than 50 weapons on May 10 destroyed carefully selected Pakistani military targets and compelled Islamabad to call for a halt to the conflict.
What triggered Operation Sindoor?
Operation Sindoor was launched on 7 May after the Pahalgam terror attack. The IAF targeted terrorist infrastructure across territories controlled by Pakistan. The strikes were initially calibrated to avoid escalation, with India stressing that it did not wish to widen the conflict.
“We expected a response and still kept it calibrated, and we engaged only military targets,” Air Marshal Tiwari said. “But when the main attack came on the night of May 9-10, that was the time we decided that we needed to go and send the right message. We hit them pan-front.”
How did the IAF achieve ‘complete domination’?
On the morning of 10 May, the IAF carried out precision attacks that, according to Tiwari, took out key Pakistani positions — some of which had remained untouched even during the 1971 war.
“I must tell you that it was a key takeaway for us that in less than 50 weapons, we were able to achieve complete domination. It has not happened before,” he revealed.
He described the mission as a “tacit acknowledgement” of the capability of both IAF planners and pilots:
“We made every weapon count and that is a tacit acknowledgement of the capability of our planners and people who executed the missions.”
By mid-day on 10 May, Pakistan requested that hostilities end.
What made the IAF strikes on Pakistan different?
Tiwari explained that the IAF used long-range vectors for precision targeting — a risky manoeuvre due to the possibility of collateral damage.
“The precision targeting from this range is very very essential as it is very risky because the longer the vector, you feel that there are more chances of collateral (damage),” he said.
“But to the credit of our planners and credit of people who executed the missions, we were able to take out each target precisely. We were able to ensure there was no collateral damage. This is not an easy game.”
Why was this operation significant?
The IAF Vice Chief said Operation Sindoor sent an unmistakable message: India was not seeking escalation, but it was prepared to degrade Pakistan’s capabilities if provoked.
“There were targets which were taken out, which were not even taken out during the 1971 war. That is the kind of extent and damage to capability that we had caused to them,” he noted.
Behind the success, he emphasised, was teamwork extending beyond pilots to planners and ground staff:
“You may have a long-range vector, but the work that goes behind making that vector or that weapon hit a target accurately is actually an effort of the whole team, not only the pilots who fired them. There are a lot of people on the ground who make that happen.”