Did India Target Pakistan's Strategic Nuclear Facility During Operation Sindoor? Insider Tell All

New Delhi: Lieutenant General (Retired) Vinod G Khandare and former principal advisor to the Ministry of Defence, made a significant revelation regarding Pakistan's strategic nuclear facility during a discussion on Operation Sindoor.

Addressing the widespread speculation in defence circles about whether India targeted Pakistan's nuclear site following the Indian armed forces' Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Lt. General Khandare referred to a statement made by Air Marshal AK Bharti, Director General of Air Operations.

When asked during a press conference last month whether India had struck the nuclear site, Air Marshal Bharti responded, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hill houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it, okay? And we have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there.”

Building on Air Marshal Bharti’s statement, Lt. General Khandare remarked, “At the international level, are you (the nation) going to say you targeted it? Obviously, it got hit, and it put a lot of fear and apprehension in the minds of the people there.”

When asked whether this marked the turning point in India-Pakistan tensions, Lt. General Khandare responded, “Yes... but this was not the only factor. Exactly that night, think about it, our armed forces had reached Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi.”

Explaining India's approach, Lt. General Khandare stated, “If you hit very valuable targets, it means you have chosen your targets well. If you hit them so hard that they reach out to you, it means you have executed the delivery of your arsenal effectively.”

When asked whether India would stop there, Lt. General Khandare emphasised, “No. At every stage of escalation, we were always ahead. I am not talking about dialing, they are free to dial anybody in the world.”

Regarding Pakistan’s response, he highlighted, “When Pakistan reached out to us and said 'enough,' we said, 'Okay. If you’ve learned a lesson, that’s all right."

Lieutenant General Vinod G Khandare further said that they are strategic analysts and connect the dots of a subsequent event. Whenever a Pakistani military leader has failed, he had been promoted. Same happened with Parvez Musharraf and now with Asim Munir. “This man went abroad and was talking on a two-nation theory. There was no sorrow on his face about the Pahalgam terror attack. Join the dots in cognitive manner, we can understand the development."

Lt. General Khandare added that after India struck had Pakistan, a seismic tremor was created. Now why the tremor only in that particular area? Joining the dots, we can reach to a conclusion. “Our officers planned everything well. When we chose, we did not aim at nuclear targets. Whether the nuclear facility was dysfunctional or not should be understood from urging a ceasefire."

“Nervousness translated into their actions. Pakistani people were rebelling against the army, though they did a quick cover up but there was panic at top level in Pakistan after India targeted their airbases," the Lieutenant General Vinod G Khandare mentioned.