'Like every soldier, I will also retire': CDS Gen Anil Chauhan on nearly half a century in uniform

New Delhi: Looking back over his nearly half-a-century journey in uniform bookended by the NDA cadet days and the top military position, CDS Gen Anil Chauhan on Saturday said he will retire "like every soldier" and expressed the desire to share his knowledge with the next crop of military leaders.

During an event held at the Manekshaw Centre here, he also said the "very well-coordinated" Operation Sindoor was "entirely different" from previous conflicts India has fought in, and even the "matrices of victory were different" in it.

The CDS also shared that his next book's subject is Operation Sindoor.

On the brink of retirement after a distinguished service of over 45 years, the CDS was asked what are his future plans are once he hags up his boots.

"Like every soldier, I will also retire. But, I have served, I think, the longest amongst you all. And, if you count the NDA days, that is four years of NDA and IMA, that is almost a journey that is 49 years, half a century, so that is huge," he said.

"Obviously, I have accumulated a lot of experience, but it may be restricted to security and defence dimension of it, and I want it share this, with the next crop of Indian armed forces' leadership, middle level, senior leadership so that we don't have to keep learning and relearning that," the CDS added.

During the session held as part of the 'Sena Samwad' hosted by 'Uniform Unveiled', he engaged in a fireside chat with a moderator and then interacted with a group of students drawn from various schools in Delhi and neighbouring cities. Various military veterans were also present on the occasion.

Gen Chauhan, a former Eastern Army Commander, took charge as the country's senior-most military commander in September 2022, over nine months after the first CDS Gen Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.

He also fielded queries on his tenure as the CDS, as the government recently named Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani (retd) as India's next chief of defence staff, and his primary mandate will be to implement the ambitious military theaterisation plan and bolster tri-services synergy.

Gen Chauhan said what he has learnt in the past three-and-a-half years has been entirely different from earlier leaderships.

"Because, till now, it was only till the chiefs, whereas a CDS's responsibility is slightly more than that of service chiefs also, of interaction also, slightly more. So, it's a new thing that we have learned to streamline the system, get benefits out of the system. So, probably will be able to teach the newer lot of officers, who will be assuming senior appointments in future," he said.

Many students asked him why the Operation Sindoor was different from previous Indian military operations.

"Operation Sindoor is different. I am not saying, it was, it is still on. So, it is still on from all the past conflicts, which we may have fought. For the first time probably, this was kind of multi-domain operations, as we operated in all three domains in a coordinated kind of a manner.

"It was a largely non-contact warfare. Normally, all wars have been contact (warfare). It involved newer technologies like (those in) space, cyber domains, all of them together," the CDS said.

The operation may have lasted only 88 hours, but it required a "huge amount of coordination", among not only the three wings of the services but with other instruments of the government or agencies too, he added.

"So, it was one, a very well coordinated operation," the general officer said.

In this operation, even the matrices of victory were different, he said, adding, "Till yesterday, you would think, how much territory you will capture, how many prisoners of war, how much equipment destroyed." In Operation Sindoor last year, there was a "visible effect, smart operation, coordinated operation" which gave you "a sense of accreditation of victory that we could do it (from) 300-400 km away with accuracy", according to the CDS.

"That was unprecedented in our geography, and that is why this operation was entirely different," he asserted.

Operation Sindoor was launched early on May 7 last year in retaliation to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, with Indian forces conducting precision strikes on multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan later also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.

The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, lasting nearly 88 hours, halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.