'Losses don't matter, action does': CDS Anil Chauhan on Operation Sindoor

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said that losses were secondary to results and action, while speaking about India’s retaliatory strike under Operation Sindoor.

 

While addressing a special lecture at the Savitribai Phule University in Pune, CDS Chauhan said, "When I was asked about losses on our side, I said these are not important."

 

Giving a Test cricket analogy, CDS Chauhan said if someone wins by an innings, then there's no question of "how many wickets, how many balls and how many players".

 

"The results and how you act are important. It would not be very correct to talk about losses," he said.

 

 

On specifics of losses incurred by Pakistan, CDS Chauhan said, "Based on technical parameters, we will take out this particular data and share it with you. We will tell you how many aircraft and radars we destroyed. We'll make a rough assessment of that and come out with that shortly."

 

#WATCH | Pune: On being asked about the losses incurred from Pakistan side during Operation Sindoor, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan says, "When I was asked about losses on our side, I said these are not important. The results and how you act are important. It… pic.twitter.com/203s1ppRG7

— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2025

 

Last week, when the CDS was asked about the loss of Indian jets during the operation, he told Bloomberg TV that the Indian Air Force learned from its initial tactical errors.

 

“The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes which we made; remedied, rectified and then implemented it again after two days. We flew all our jets again targeting at long range,” he said.

 

However, he categorically denied Pakistan's claims of downing six Indian jets, terming them as "absolutely incorrect".

 

India launched 'Operation Sindoor' in the wee hours of May 7, targeting nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The counterterror strike was India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that claimed the lives of 26 people.

 

Pahalgam attack was profound cruelty: CDS

 

Speaking about the Pahalgam attack, CDS Chauhan said the terror incident caused a huge "revulsion" and "hatred" in society.

 

"What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims because all of them were killed with head shots in front of their families and their children and they were shot in the name of religion... which is kind of unacceptable to this modern world. This caused a huge revulsion in the society. There was a kind of hatred. It revived memories because this was not a single act of terror against India," the CDS said.

 

VIDEO | Pune: Delivering special lecture on the topic 'Future Wars and Warfare' organised Savitribai Phule Pune University, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, says, "What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims because all of them were killed with… pic.twitter.com/XdPsr0KBHd

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 3, 2025

 

He further said that India has been a victim of maximum terror acts, in which almost 20,000 people have been killed.

 

"The emotion which was being evoked in the people of India was of revenge, retribution, and to get the perpetrator to justice. At the end of it, there was probably some sort of satisfaction, and anxiety (during Operation Sindoor)," CDS Chauhan said.