India Firm Against Nuclear Blackmail, Says CDS Gen. Chauhan
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday asserted that India will not be deterred by any nuclear blackmail from its neighbour. Speaking at an ORF event during the release of the ORF Foreign Policy Survey 2024, Gen. Chauhan said nuclear weapons are tools of deterrence, not instruments of warfighting.
“India has made it clear that it will not succumb to nuclear threats. Operation Sindoor is the only instance of a conflict between two nuclear-armed nations,” he stated. The operation was launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack and targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK.
Gen. Chauhan highlighted that modern conflicts can escalate rapidly and demand readiness across sub-conventional, conventional, and nuclear spectrums.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing DRDO’s Controllers’ Conference on Monday, noted that global interest in Indian defence equipment has surged post-Operation Sindoor. “The courage shown by our soldiers and the performance of indigenous systems have boosted demand for our defence products,” he said.
Singh emphasized that India’s defence budget, larger than the GDP of several nations, must be optimally utilized for national security.
