NEW DELHI, May 16: In a stern military message to Islamabad, Army Chief Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday said if Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then they have to “decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not”.
At an interactive session hosted by ‘Uniform Unveiled’ at the Manekshaw Centre here, he was asked about how the Indian Army will respond if circumstances that led to Operation Sindoor last year comes up again.
The Army chief said, “If you have heard me earlier, what I have said… that Pakistan, if it continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then they have to decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not.”
His remarks at the event, ‘Sena Samwad’, came days after the country and the Indian military marked the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
Gen Dwivedi’s remarks, though brief carried a blunt message to Pakistan, and reiterated India’s stand against terrorism.
Operation Sindoor was launched early on May 7 last year in retaliation to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, with Indian forces conducting precision strikes on multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Pakistan later 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, lasting nearly 88 hours, halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.
On the evolving nature of warfare, he said there are changes as far as the present-day battlefield is concerned, as well as the future battlefield.
“The present battlefield is more about the first three domains: land, maritime and air. Now, these three domains have to give space to three different domains: cyber, space, and the cognitive. But it doesn’t mean the first three domains will go away. Because, in the Indian Army, we look at all five generations of warfare.
“The trench warfare, the ditch-cum-bund that is in Punjab and other places. Then, artillery and manoeuvre warfare with tanks. Then, rockets and missiles, or hybrid warfare, where there are so many internal security issues. You also have to include artificial intelligence and quantum,” the Army chief said.
“So, a soldier has to put all these things together in his mind. The future warfare is going to be more challenging, because all this has to be put in somebody’s brain. And, your generation will definitely be better off than ours. Because, in our case, we know the definition of artificial intelligence. But you know its application. That’s the biggest difference,” Gen Dwivedi said. (PTI)
