Army avoided strike during Namaz in Op Sindoor: COAS

By Shafat Malik
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11 Apr 2026

Srinagar, April 10: Chief of Army Staff Upendra Dwivedi on Friday said the timing of India’s cross-border strikes under Operation Sindoor was chosen to avoid periods when prayers were being offered.

Speaking at the ‘Ran Samvad 2026’ forum in Bengaluru, he said the armed forces had the flexibility to strike at any time but did not act when people might be offering Namaz at the targeted locations.

“We could have struck at 2 am or 4 am, at any given time. But we ensured we did not act when people might be offering Namaz at the terrorist camps,” he said.

CDS said the forces selected a window when such activity was not taking place, adding that “there is one God for all,” while explaining the decision.

Operation Sindoor was launched in May last year after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people, most of them tourists, were killed. Indian forces carried out strikes on launchpads across the border and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Dwivedi said the operation improved coordination among the services and described it as a case study, while adding that further integration remains a goal.

He said part of the effort during the operation was focused on countering misinformation.

“Nearly 15 per cent of the effort went into managing disinformation,” he said, adding that steps have been taken to strengthen capabilities in this area.

He said new structures have been initiated to deal with information and psychological aspects of conflict. He also referred to challenges in aligning responses across strategic, operational and tactical levels, especially in dealing with what he described as grey-zone threats, which operate below the threshold of conventional conflict.