New Delhi | 25 Aug 2026
Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said politics and warfare were inseparable, arguing that military force must serve clearly defined political objectives. He made the remarks during a discussion on Operation Sindoor and its aftermath at the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi on Tuesday.
- Political objectives shape military options
- Defence preparedness determines available choices
- Operation Sindoor remains strategically relevant
- Chauhan calls for changing military strategies
Political objectives shape military options
Invoking Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, Chauhan said a country’s political interests remained paramount and the armed forces were one of several instruments available to protect them.
“Politics and war are inseparable. Clausewitz said that war is a continuation of politics by other means.”
— General Anil Chauhan, former Chief of Defence Staff
Chauhan said that when a democratic government decided to use force, the military had two principal responsibilities: offering options capable of meeting the government’s objectives and giving the political leadership confidence that those options could be executed successfully.
He stressed that each military choice involved a different level of operational risk and had to be evaluated against the political purpose it was intended to achieve.
“Each option has a certain kind of risk involved in it. So, it’s an interplay between risk and attainment of political objectives.”
— General Anil Chauhan, former Chief of Defence Staff
Defence preparedness determines available choices
According to Chauhan, the number and quality of options available during a crisis depend on investments made during peacetime. Defence capabilities, military training, war games and contingency planning must be developed well before the government considers deploying force, he said.
Military leadership also influences the choices available to the government through the quality of training and operational scenarios it prepares. No armed force could remain completely prepared for every contingency at all times, he added, making continuous assessment and adaptation essential.
Operation Sindoor remains strategically relevant
Discussing the Operation Sindoor aftermath, Chauhan said the main phase of active operations had concluded but the campaign remained relevant to strategic communities in India and abroad.
“In some ways, it is ongoing. The major part of active operations has concluded, but this remains a subject of interest for the strategic community.”
— General Anil Chauhan, former Chief of Defence Staff
He said the operation should be assessed alongside the deficiencies identified during it, measures taken to address those gaps, the changing character of warfare and wider global uncertainty.
India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May 2025 following the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which killed 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national. The Indian government said its forces targeted nine terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
India and Pakistan subsequently exchanged military strikes before agreeing on 10 May 2025 to stop firing and military action on land, in the air and at sea.
Chauhan calls for changing military strategies
Chauhan said military planners could not repeatedly rely on the same response because predictability reduced the prospects of success. He cited India’s different approaches following the Uri, Pulwama and Pahalgam attacks.
The response after Uri involved land-based surgical strikes, while the Balakot operation following the Pulwama attack used air power. Operation Sindoor employed another approach, including the use of lower airspace, which Chauhan said was intended to preserve surprise and control the threshold of conflict.
Chauhan served as India’s second Chief of Defence Staff until 30 May 2026. General NS Raja Subramani assumed charge as the country’s third CDS on 31 May 2026.
