India Avoided Hitting Terror Camps During Namaz In Operation Sindoor: Army Chief

India's Operation Sindoor was executed with precision and deliberate restraint, with the armed forces consciously choosing not to strike terror targets during prayer hours, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Thursday. Speaking at the 'Ran Samvad 2026' forum in Bengaluru, the Army Chief said the operation's timing was not just tactical but also guided by a broader humanitarian consideration.

Army Chief Says Strike Timing Was Chosen Carefully

Dwivedi said the Indian military had complete flexibility over when it could hit the identified terror hubs, but made a conscious decision to avoid acting when prayers may have been underway inside the camps.

"When we were preparing to strike these targets, the timing could have been 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock - at any hour," he said, underlining that the operation could have been launched at multiple points depending on military convenience.

However, he stressed that the armed forces deliberately avoided striking at moments when those inside the camps could have been engaged in religious prayer.

"We ensured that we would not act at a time when people on the other side might be offering Namaz at the terrorist camps," he said.

Dwivedi further explained the thinking behind that decision, saying, "sabka malik ek hai (There is one God for all). That is why we chose a time when we knew such prayers were not taking place."

Operation Sindoor Was Launched After Pahalgam Terror Attack

The Army Chief was referring to Operation Sindoor, which India launched in May last year in response to the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 people, most of them tourists.

The attack, carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorists, saw gunmen storm a popular tourist valley, prompting a swift Indian military response. In retaliation, Indian forces targeted terror launchpads located across the border in Pakistan and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The operation marked one of India's most assertive cross-border military responses in recent years and was seen as a calibrated message to terror networks and their handlers across the Line of Control.

Pakistan Escalated With Drones, Shelling Before Ceasefire

In the days following Operation Sindoor, Pakistan sharply escalated tensions by launching drone attacks and carrying out shelling along the border.

Over roughly a week, Islamabad sent swarms of drones towards Indian territory. While most of these were intercepted mid-air by Indian defences, some did manage to cause damage in border areas.

As the situation worsened and Pakistan's losses mounted, Islamabad's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reportedly reached out to his Indian counterpart. Both sides subsequently agreed to halt all military actions across land, air and sea with effect from May 10, 2025.

That understanding effectively brought the immediate phase of the confrontation to a close after days of intense military exchanges.

Army Chief Calls It A Defining Example Of Modern Warfare

Dwivedi also described Operation Sindoor as a landmark in India's military transformation, calling it a major step towards greater synergy between different branches of the armed forces.

Speaking at the Bengaluru event, he said, "Operation Sindoor was India's most powerful tool of progression towards domain jointness. But we need to achieve domain integration and fusion," as reported by PTI.

He said the operation was not limited to battlefield action alone, pointing out that modern conflict increasingly involves information and perception management alongside conventional military moves.

"15 per cent of our effort was on managing the disinformation campaign," he said, highlighting the importance of countering misinformation during the operation.

According to Dwivedi, the Army has since taken steps to strengthen its capabilities in that area, including the creation of an information warfare organisation and a psychological defence division.

At the same time, he cautioned that India still faces challenges in coordinating responses across strategic, operational and tactical levels, especially as adversaries increasingly rely on grey-zone tactics that stop short of open conventional war.

"These are typically below the conventional military threshold, with the goal to exploit adversary vulnerability," he noted, warning that such methods are becoming a central feature of modern conflict.