NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development & Sustenance) Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Rahul R Singh on Friday enumerated a few key lessons he thought important to flag.
"We had one border and two adversaries, actually three. Pakistan was in the front. China was providing all possible support. 81% of the military hardware with Pakistan is Chinese," he said.
Mentioning Turkey, apart from Pakistan and China, Lt Gen Rahul R Singh further emphasised that Turkey also played a significant role in providing military support.
"Turkey also played an important role in providing the type of support it did... When DGMO-level talks were on, Pakistan had the live updates of our important vectors from China. We need a robust air defence system," he observed.
"They gave Bayraktar and numerous other drones... When DGMO-level talks were on, Pakistan had the live updates of our important vectors from China... We need a robust air defence system," he reiterated.
The Deputy Army Chief pointed out that China used the situation "like a lab" to test its weapons.
"China perhaps has seen that it's able to test its weapons against various other weapon systems that are there. It's like a live lab which is available to it," General Rahul Singh emphasised.
General Singh was speaking at the New Age Military Technologies event organised by FICCI.
Sharing other lessons picked up, he said that air defence and its role during the entire operation were crucial.
"This time, our population centres were not quite addressed, but next time, we need to be prepared for that," he warned.
The Deputy Army Chief further spoke about the importance of strategic messaging and the integration of technology and human intelligence in target selection and operational planning.
"The strategic messaging by leadership was unambiguous. There is no scope of absorbing the pain the way we did a few years ago," he said.
"The planning and selection of targets was based on a lot of data collected using technology and human intelligence. A total of 21 targets were identified, out of which nine targets we thought would be prudent to engage. It was only on the final day or the final hour that the decision was taken to engage these nine targets," he explained.
Controlling the escalation ladder was a key consideration. "We should always aim to be on top of the escalation ladder. When we reach a military objective, we should try and put a stop to it," he said.
"War is easy to initiate, but it's very difficult to control. I would say that was a very masterly stroke that was played to stop the war at an appropriate time," he added.
Looking to the future, General Rahul Singh said India must prepare for "fifth-generation warfare," warning that future conflicts could involve a "computer nerd" who may sit in one part of the country and control an entire weapon system remotely.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, with the aim to destroy terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).