Why IAF Fired Less Than 50 Weapons During Op Sindoor; ‘And Pakistan Asked For A Ceasefire’ News24 –

Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari said that the Indian Air Force fired fewer than 50 weapons at Pakistani military targets, which compelled Islamabad to request an end to the fighting. He added that Pakistan’s call for a ceasefire came by midday on May 10. He was speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit. The new revelation came almost three months after India’s strike on Pakistan’s terror spots following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack. These fewer than 50 weapons fired by the Indian Air Force were to bring Pakistan to the ceasefire table. 

“From the list of options presented, we had a large number of target sets. And finally, we boiled down to nine,” said Air Marshal Tiwari at the NDTV Defence Summit. “Key takeaway for us, that in less than 50 weapons, we were able to achieve conflict elimination. So this is the essential part which I want you to take away.”

“It is very easy to start a war, but not easy enough to end it. And that was an important consideration to keep in mind so that our forces were activated, they were deployed, and they were ready for any eventuality that would have come about,” he added. 

At the summit, Air Marshal Tiwari credited India’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) for the success, noting that it served as the backbone of both offensive and defensive operations. He said the system enabled India to absorb the initial strikes and deliver a strong counterattack that forced Pakistan to agree to de-escalation. He added that New Delhi’s directives were clear: the action had to be visible and punitive, it needed to send a deterrent message against future attacks, and the armed forces were to have full operational freedom while being prepared for any escalation into conventional war.

Air Marshal Tiwari said that India was not looking to escalate the situation after carrying out strikes on Pakistani terror infrastructure in the early hours of May 7. “We expected a response and still kept it calibrated, and we engaged only military targets. But when the main attack came on the night of May 9-10, that was the time we decided that we needed to go and send the right message. We hit them pan-front,” he remarked. He also added that the IAF limited its strikes to only military targets. “There were targets that were taken out, which were not even taken out during the 1971 war. That is the kind of extent and damage to capability that we had caused to them.”