Border dispute with China 'biggest challenge' for India: CDS Anil Chauhan
He also spoke about regional instability with India’s neighbours facing social, political and economic unrest
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Friday (September 5) described the border dispute with China as the “biggest challenge” for India.
Addressing an event in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, General Chauhan said that the second major challenge for the country was Pakistan’s proxy war with a strategy of “bleed India by a thousand cuts”.
What General Chauhan said
“Challenges before countries aren’t momentary; they exist in different forms. I think the boundary dispute with China is India’s biggest challenge and will continue to remain so. The second major challenge is Pakistan’s proxy war against India, with a strategy of ‘bleed India by a thousand cuts’,” he said.
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He also spoke about regional instability with India’s neighbours facing social, political and economic unrest. “Regional instability is also a concern, as almost all of India’s neighbours face social, political, and economic unrest. Another challenge is that the domains of war have changed-it now includes cyber and space. Both of our opponents are nuclear powers, and it will always remain a challenge to decide what kind of operations we want to undertake against them.”
Discussing Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, General Chauhan stated that it involved a multi-domain operation, including cyber warfare.
Lessons from Balakot operation
“We had full operational freedom, including planning and selection of targets, during Operation Sindoor. The aim was not to avenge the terrorist attack, but to draw a red line of our patience. It was a multi-domain operation, including cyber warfare. Coordination among military wings and joint mobilisation was a crucial aspect of it,” he said.
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He also said that India and Pakistan learned different lessons after the Balakot operation. “India and Pakistan learned different lessons after the Balakot operation. India focused on long-range precision strike weapons and post-strike damage assessment, and Pakistan might have focused on its air defence. During the surgical strikes after the 2016 Uri terror attack, the Indian Army entered Pakistan by land and destroyed the terrorist camps. We conducted airstrikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region after Pulwama attack.”
Earlier in the day, General Chauhan visited the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur to attend the annual 'Vyakhyanmala' held on the death anniversary of Mahant Digvijaynath Maharaj and Mahant Avedyanath Maharaj.