Operation Sindooor revealed our capability gaps, India working on them: Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said Operation Sindoor revealed both India's strength and and capability gaps and the country is taking decisive steps to address those strength.

Speaking at the News 18's Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi on Saturday (February 28), Singh said Operation Sindoor was an important learning experience. "Operation Sindoor gave us an opportunity to showcase the strength of our weapons, our air power and unmanned systems of different types. Not too much of conventional warfare was used. However, it also showed our capability gaps and India is trying to address them."

Stating that there has been a significant jump of 24% in the defence modernisation budget for the 2026-27 financial year, Singh listed all the important equipment and manpower that the Indian defence system-Army, Navy and Air Force

"We received a record 2.9 lakh crore contracts last year and have already bagged contracts worth Rs 2 lakh crore so far this year. The aim is to give visibility to industry in terms of what they need to do all the way down to the value chain. Every area, where we have a capability issue, is being addressed," said the Defence Secretary.

On the question of whether India has been able to replenish some of the resources it had used during Operation Sindoor, Singh said, "An emergency procurement was designed to replenish some of what we have lost in Operation Sindoor...We are not only replenishing the inventory but also strengthening it."

Talking about what counted as a success for India during Operation Sindoor, Singh said, "I have to say India has the courage and the clairty to suitably utilise its island nations. What deserves credit is India's well-developed missile system programme and the success story of indigenisation.  However, there are some niche areas, such as technology transfer, where we need help from our friendly partners. India is working on that."

Launched on 7 May, 2025, Operation Sindoor was India's military response against terrorist infrastructure located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). It was undertaken after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack which killed 26 civilians.

The Indian armed forces used precision-guided munitions and missile strikes to neutralise terror camps rather than target civilians.