Op Sindoor not over, only paused: Navy chief Admiral Tripathi

Ranchi: The chief of the naval staff, Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, on Friday said India’s strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, ‘Operation Sindoor’, is still going on and described the operation as one of the most challenging and learning experiences of his career so far.

During his two-day visit to Ranchi, Tripathi interacted with students at the Central Coalfield Limited headquarters and while responding to a query from an NCC cadet, Nitya Singh, the Navy chief said ‘Operation Sindoor’ has only paused as the operation against terrorism has not yet concluded.




“Challenges are an integral part of life. For me, professionally, Operation Sindoor is undoubtedly one of the most challenging, as well as a learning experience. It was a matter of pride, too, where I could use the expertise gathered in the last four decades of service. The operation is not yet concluded, and so the challenges, too,” he said.

Replying to a question from another student, Divyanshi of the Army Public School, the Navy chief refrained from going into details of the operation, but said, “The Navy demonstrated its utmost strength during the operation to deter the opponent and was ready for war, if needed. But the opponent was in a state of fear and did not come out of their harbour, giving us no chance of fighting.”

He further said ‘Operation Sindoor’ taught many lessons, in terms of equipment and strategies, and the Navy started working on those.

On another question by DAV Public School, Helal, student Shitanshu Kumar Singh about the role of AI, cyber warfare and indigenous weapons for defence in shaping the Navy’s war preparedness, Admiral Tripathi said the force was already using these new-age technologies in its warfare.

“In today’s world, technology is changing at the speed of thought. By the time someone thinks of a technology, someone else in some part of the globe is already developing it. Undoubtedly, technology is playing a great role in war, and the Navy is also keeping up its pace with the changing world,” Admiral Tripathi said.

Addressing the youths, the Navy chief asked them to prioritise acquiring skills alongside conventional education to actively contribute to the nation’s development and help realise the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

“India eyes to become a 30-trillion dollar economy, achieve 100% literacy rate, and emerge as a global hub in the innovation sector by 2047. The journey of a developed India lies in the vision of becoming self-reliant from dependency, transforming import to innovation and weakness to resilience. But to realise this vision, our youth have to play a crucial role. For that, apart from acquiring conventional education, the youths have to become skilled with new-age technologies, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities and communication skills and emerge as agents of change,” he said.

Admiral Tripathi further said that being educated is not sufficient in this era and said, “Only the skilled youths will take the country to the path of development. The youths must be honest, disciplined and have a high degree of work ethics and civic sense to contribute to the country in a true sense.”

Emphasising the importance of the naval force, Admiral Tripathi also said around 90% of the world’s and 95% of India’s trade takes place through the sea and termed the journey to realising the vision of Viksit Bharat, a “maritime voyage”.

“Around 88% of India’s energy requirement also comes through the sea, and a little inconvenience caused in the sea can lead to a heavy financial burden on the public exchequer. The country’s commerce, connectivity and trade highly depend on the sea route. The Navy plays a significant role in safeguarding the commerce of the country and will continue to do so in the future,” he added.
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