'Losses Not Important, Outcomes Are', Says CDS Anil Chauhan On Operation Sindoor

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday (3 June) asserted that “losses are not important, but outcomes are,” days after admitting that India lost a few fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.

Speaking at a special lecture on 'Future Wars and Warfare' organised by Savitribai Phule University in Pune, he said, “Professional military forces are not affected by setbacks and losses.”

“When I was asked about losses on our side... I said these are not important. The results are important. It would not be very correct to talk about losses. Suppose you go to a cricket match and you win, by any means, then there's no question about how many wickets, balls, players,” he said.

“Adaptability is an important constituent of a very professional force. You should be able to understand what went wrong, need to rectify your mistake and go again. You cannot sit down in fear,” he added.

At an event in Singapore last week, General Chauhan had said to Bloomberg TV, “What is important is not the jet being (shot) down... but why they were downed.” He added, “Why they were (shot) down... what mistakes were made — those are important.”

“The thinking behind Op Sindoor was (also) that Pakistan should not be able to hold India hostage to terrorism. India is not going to live under the shadow of terror and nuclear blackmail,” he said.

“What happened in Pahalgam was profound cruelty towards the victims... because all were killed with headshots in front of their families and their children, and they were shot in the name of religion... India has been the victim of a maximum terror acts... almost 20,000 people have been killed,” he said.