Pak’s hurried constitutional amendments acknowledgement of its Op Sindoor failure, says CDS Chauhan
Talking about the progress of the proposed joint operating commands in India, Chauhan said that the Union government has extended time till May 30, 2026 for the completion of the exercise, but the armed forces are working to put the structure in place much before the deadline.
Describing this as one of his main responsibilities, General Chauhan said that the process has now reached its final stage.
Speaking at the Pune Public Policy Festival, CDS said that Operation Sindoor is only on pause.
“The changes made in Pakistan, including the hastily made constitutional amendment, are actually an admission that not everything went well for them in this operation. They found many shortcomings and shortcomings,” said Gem Chauhan.
The general added that this entire amendment mainly concerns the constitution of the federal customs courts, which is a completely separate issue.
The amendment to Article 243 of the Constitution of Pakistan has led to significant changes in the supreme defense organization of this country. “This is of particular importance to us in India and especially to the armed forces. To narrow down these changes, the first is the abolition of the post of Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, which was probably created to promote partnership between the three services. This post has now been abolished. In its place, the post of Commander of Defense Forces (CDF) has been created.” he said.
However, General Chauhan said that Pakistan has also stated that this position can only be created by the Chief of General Staff, which is against the basic principle of partnership.
“This is a big change. The second change is the creation of the National Strategy Command. On this front, things can work well from their perspective. Earlier, they had also created an Army Rocket Forces Command. This can strengthen their capabilities, both conventionally and strategically. What they are essentially doing is concentrating the force by creating these new structures,” CDS said.
Commenting on the changes made by Pakistan, he said, “Today, the Chief of Defense Staff will be responsible for land operations, joint operations with the Navy and Air Force through the CDF, as well as strategic and nuclear matters. The creation of the Rocket Forces Command adds another important layer. This in some ways reflects a land-centric mindset.” he said.
“Those are the reasons why these changes are being made, and these are the changes that are essentially being implemented,” he added.
“For those who do not regularly follow such developments or do not fully understand what ‘strategic forces’ means, it primarily means nuclear forces or nuclear weapons,” the general said.
He said that after Operation Sindoor, various operational lessons especially related to higher defense organization should be added.
Drawing on experiences from recent military conflicts, including the Uri surgical strikes, Doklam and Galwan clashes, Balakot airstrike and Operation Sindoor, he said Indian armed forces often operate through innovative, situation-specific command arrangements.
“What we are working on now is to develop a standard system that can be applied in all contingencies,” the Chief of Defense Staff said.
