Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday released a commemorative volume on Operation Sindoor, which documents the personal testimonies of 100 officers, sailors, and airmen who participated in the decisive military operation last year.
Singh described the operation as an unprecedented success wherein India “compelled Pakistan to seek a ceasefire within four days.”
“It was different from all other wars that India has fought so far. The commemorative publication goes beyond historical account and captures the personal experiences of brave soldiers. It also offers insight into the human dimension of modern warfare where leadership, courage, judgment under pressure and commitment translate strategy into success,” the defence minister said in a post on X.
He also shared some photos of the release function here, which took place in the presence of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh.
“The accounts span across the three Services as well as Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff and include combat aviators, naval watchkeepers, surface-to-air missile crews, special forces operators, signallers, logisticians, medical officers and the personnel of the joint and integrated organisations that knit the operation together,” the ministry said.The volume has been compiled under the guidance of the CDS. Singh in his post said the document is a tribute to those who executed this operation and “gives us a connect with the devotion and resilience of our soldiers.” The citizens need to draw inspiration from this book and become citizens worthy of the tremendous cost the nation pays to ensure security and maintain sovereignty, he added.
The volume departs deliberately from the conventions of official military historiography.
“Most accounts of war privilege the view from the headquarters and the operations room, as the decisions of commanders are recorded, analysed and debated. Yet the texture of the war as it was actually lived – by soldiers on the Line of Control targeting adversary bunkers, the air defence operator tracking and neutralising inbound drones, the pilot in the cockpit at the moment of weapons release and the sailor at action stations as the fleet moves to a heightened posture – is almost always lost,” the ministry said in a statement. This book is an attempt to recover that texture, it said.