Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Nearly 20 days after Pakistan’s panicked Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) requested his Indian counterpart to stop cross-firing in the ongoing Operation Sindoor, India’s Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan warned a Pakistani general about the ‘red line’ on Sunday in Singapore.
According to the media reports, CDS General Chauhan and Pakistan’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza exchanged warnings at the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore, which concluded on Sunday, amid heightened tensions between the two nations.
Speaking at the event, CDS General Chauhan, referred to Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, and said, “What India has done, politically, they have drawn a new red line of intolerance against terror.”
“I hope this particular operation, it is basically lying in military domain, that should bring about some lessons for our adversary also, and hopefully they learn that this is a limit of India’s tolerance.”
“We have been subjected to this proxy war of terror for almost two decades and more, and we lost lot of people…we want to put an end to it,” the CDS added.
The ongoing tensions between the two neighbours drew attention at the gathering of the top global defence forum held from Friday to Sunday.
General Sahir Shamshad Mirza stressed the need to move towards conflict resolution instead of management, warning that its absence could result in a destructive escalation.
During a panel discussion, titled “Regional Crisis-Management Mechanisms”, Mirza said: “It has become imperative to move beyond conflict management towards conflict resolution. This will ensure sustainable peace and assured crisis management.”
He then stressed that an “early resolution of Kashmir (issue) in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and as per the aspirations of the people is essential” for an enduring peace in South Asia.
“Given the Indian policies… the absence of a crisis management mechanism may not give enough time to the global powers to intervene and affect cessation of hostilities. They will probably be too late to avoid damage and destruction,” he said.
“The core that resides between Pakistan and India is Kashmir,” he said.
Following the recent military conflict, he said, the “threshold of an escalatory war has come dangerously low, implying greater risk on both sides, not just in the disputed territory but all of India and all of Pakistan.”
“Emboldening of India as a net security provider by the West and its ambition to become a regional hegemon is disincentivising it to engage in conflict management options,” Mirza claimed.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 and destroyed nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
All subsequent retaliations to Pakistani offensives were carried out under this operation. The four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.