Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan (retd) has revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi granted the military "complete freedom of action" before Operation Sindoor, directing it to decide the timing of the operation while ensuring there was no scope for failure. Chauhan shared these details at an event in New Delhi, offering a rare public account of the decision-making process leading up to the May 2025 strikes.

Decision to 'teach Pakistan a big lesson'

Speaking at the Vivekananda Centre, Chauhan said the political decision that the perpetrators of the terror attack would not be spared and that India would not tolerate cross-border terrorism was conveyed by PM Modi in his speech in Patna on April 24. He recalled that a meeting chaired by PM Modi on April 29, following the Pahalgam attack, decided that "we should teach Pakistan a big lesson" through an "unthinkable" action, stressing that India will not tolerate cross-border terrorism and that it must end.

According to Chauhan, PM Modi told the forces: "Do it at your own time, but ensure that there is no reason for failure, either human or because of technical reasons, and we should have evidence." The Prime Minister also made clear he was under no political pressure to launch the operation immediately.

Sequence of meetings and decisions

Chauhan detailed a series of meetings between April 23 and 29. Decisions on diplomacy, economic power, and trade were taken on April 23, while the decision on how military force would be applied was taken on April 29, when the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Minister, and National Security Advisor met the Prime Minister. The April 29 meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval, and the three service chiefs.

Chauhan said the Chiefs of Staff Committee met four to five times between April 23 and 29, and met with the NSA an equal number of times. "It was a kind of an interplay when we went to the government with our options. We had a number of options which we had discussed with the NSA," he said.

The former CDS suggested that the Bahawalpur target was especially included in the list during the meeting because of the decision to teach Pakistan a big lesson. The night hour was chosen for the strikes to minimise civilian casualties. Chauhan also noted that target identification was a major challenge due to vacated, reoccupied, or relocated camps.

Operation details

India conducted the military operation on May 7, 2025, against nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), killing over 100 terrorists, to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025. Markaz Taiba in Muridke and Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur were among the nine targets hit.

The operation was paused on May 10 after a formal request from the Pakistani side. Chauhan said Operation Sindoor is "still ongoing," though major parts have concluded.

First public account

This is the first time Gen Chauhan has shared in public details of the decisions taken during that meeting. Chauhan, who retired on May 30, spoke about the operation and its aftermath, including the challenge of striking at midnight and obtaining evidence in pitch darkness.

"Initially, there was a doubt if we would be able to strike at midnight hour and yet obtain evidence of those strikes in pitch darkness. Yet, we were confident of the capabilities that we had created, and we said yes, we will be able to do that at midnight," he said. "And, it helped us in..."