Top military officials from India, Pakistan share views at Shangri-La Dialogue

Singapore: Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia’s premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month’s military confrontation.

The longstanding tensions between the two neighbours grabbed attention at the gathering of the top global defence forum held from Friday to Sunday, reported Channel News Asia on Sunday.

India accused Pakistan-based terror groups of a deadly attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April, while Pakistan denies any involvement.

And just as these nations sit next to each other geographically, some of their top generals sat in neighbouring conference rooms inside the Shangri-La Singapore, taking part in simultaneous sessions late on Saturday afternoon on topics ranging from defence innovation solutions to regional crisis-management mechanisms.

"What India has done, politically, they have drawn a new red line of intolerance against terror," General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff with the Indian Armed Forces, said, referring to Operation Sindoor.

"I hope, this particular operation, it's basically lying in military domain, that should bring about some lessons for our adversary also, and hopefully they learn that this is a limit of India's tolerance," Gen Chauhan said.

"We have been subjected to this proxy war of terror for almost two decades and more, and we lost lot of people...we want to put an end to it," he said.

Operation Sindoor was launched early on May 7 to destroy nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead.

All subsequent retaliations to Pakistani offensives were carried out under this operation. The four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.

General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Armed Forces, warned of what could happen should another clash occur.

"The strategic stability with the lowering of this threshold to the dangerous levels if next time such a conflict occurs and the cities are targeted first and the borders become irrelevant... there could be a possibility that before the international community intervenes because of the restricted or constricted times window, the damage and destruction may have already taken place," he said at the event.

In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals across the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.

The Channel also had a member of the multi-party Indian delegation that visited East and Southeast Asia during a stop in Singapore on May 27.

Congress party leader and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid agreed with the views that the effort is unprecedented.

"It is an innovation, in a sense. And the fact that there are multi-party delegations, seven of them across the world, to all members of the (UN) Security Council and prospective members of the Security Council. In that sense, it is unprecedented, and we've got enormous support," he was quoted as saying.

"You might even put it as something that has started, something that will at least ensure that our narrative is carried right through," he said.

And that narrative is firmly focused on India’s accusations that Pakistan isn’t doing nearly enough to snuff out terrorism, according to the Channel report.

General Mirza told the Channel in a wide-ranging interview that Pakistan is taking on terrorism on its soil and working to tackle cross-border terrorism from groups based in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Mirza said terrorism has cost his country hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives.

India and Pakistan’s 96-hour confrontation was seen as a test of the rivals’ respective weapons systems, including French-made Rafale fighter jets and Chinese-made J10-C jets, armed with Chinese-made missiles, according to the Channel report.

But the top generals on both sides have said their military forces can pick and choose when it comes to their firepower.

"India doesn't depend on one nation for its defence needs,” said General Chauhan. "It's a number of capabilities which were put together, and most of these capabilities were put to good effects,” he was quoted as saying.

General Mirza told the Channel that his country’s capabilities include weapons from China and many other places.

"I have military equipment from the US. I have military equipment from Turkiye. I have military equipment from Italy. I have military equipment from the UK," he listed. "We have the equipment from all equipment-producing countries."

In addition, both sides relied on drones while also facing serious threats in the form of disinformation. But global concern was firmly fixed on the unconventional weapons they both possess, the ones that can cause widespread destruction and loss of life.

The countries continue to maintain that the use of nuclear weapons was never on the table, with Pakistani officials, including General Mirza dismissing reports that Islamabad called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body that oversees Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

"The tools of modern conflict are artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, cyber, precision, firepower and weapons," Mirza said.