India has adequate arsenal of weapons, whole of Pakistan from Rawalpindi to KPK is within range: DG Army Air Defence Lt Gen Sumer Ivan D’Cunha

Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt General Rajiv Ghai with Air Marshal AK Bharti and Vice Admiral AN Pramod during a press conference on 'Operation Sindoor'. (PTI/File image)

During Operation Sindoor, India struck terrorist bases and key army installations deep inside and across the breadth of Pakistan, proving that it possesses the arsenal capability of striking targets across the full depth of Pakistan, Lt Gen Sumer Ivan D'Cunha, Director General of Army Air Defence said on Monday. Talking to ANI, the Director General of Army Air Defence explained how even the farthest terror bases and points in Pakistan could be easily hit by India.

He was responding to a question regarding how, after Pakistan military's general headquarter (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was hit by India's precision strikes, there was a buzz in Pakistani media regarding the need to move their strategic base out of Pindi as it is considered too close to the Indian border.

Lt Gen Sumer Ivan D’Cunha quipped that their geography doesn't matter, and added, "I just like to say that India has an adequate arsenal of weapons to take on Pakistan right across its depth. So, from its broadest to its narrowest, wherever it is, the whole of Pakistan is within range. We are absolutely capable — from our borders or even in depth — where we can take on the entire Pakistan. The GHQ can move from Rawalpindi to KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) or wherever they want to move, but they're all within range. They'll have to really find a deep hole."

Talking about social media videos emanating from Pakistan that purportedly showed Pakistani forces firing ballistic missiles from populated areas — to seek cover from Indian retaliation — India would not hit civilian areas, commoners and civilian aircraft that were flying in Pakistani airspace, he said that, after firing, while the Indian Armed Forces do not seek protective cover in civilian population, Pakistan military seeks protection in populous areas.

He informed, "It is something we've grown up learning that whenever you fire an effective weapon you're liable to be detected and hence after 'you shoot, you scoot', and move into something called a hide — which is pre-planned and pre-decided. So, whenever you fire you'll immediately get a counterattack in that particular location with the weapon locating radar. So the first thing we do after we fire is we go to a hide — which is nowhere near a population center. It's in a proper predetermined camouflage place, so that you protect your weapon system and you protect your crew. But Pakistan gets into population centers. It's a concept that we are seeing now, and it's a concept that we've got to be aware of, and think as to how we're going to deal with this in future."

In the ANI interview, he also claimed that the management of Amritsar's Golden Temple allowed the Indian Army to deploy air defence guns within the shrine to counter drone and missile threats from Pakistan. "When it was explained to them, they allowed us to deploy guns to secure and protect the Golden Temple. The lights were switched off so that we could clearly visualize the drones as they were coming in and that gave us a greater clarity in the sky because as and when you saw the light you knew what to engage," Lt General D'Cunha claimed.

Also Read - Operation Sindoor: Golden Temple's Head Granthi allowed Indian Army to deploy guns to thwart Pak missile and drone attacks, claims Lt Gen Sumer Ivan D'Cunha

He discussed the non-operative details of the Indian Armed Forces' strategy during the ongoing Operation Sindoor, that was launched by India on May 7 to destroy terror infrastructure at nine places in Pakistan and PoK in retaliation to the 26 people killed by Pak terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba's offshoot The Resistance Front's (TRF) terrorists in J&K's Pahalgam on 22 April.

Pak retaliated to these attack on terror bases but its aggressions were successfully thwarted by the joint efforts of the Indian Armed Forces. In response, India carried out strikes at military installations in Pakistan until the early morning of May 10.

In the evening of the same day, Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) reached out to his Indian counterpart requesting no further escalation. Thereafter, an understanding was reached between the two countries to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect.