Latest news with #Khandare
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Operation Sindoor strikes timed to avoid civilian casualties during prayers'
Nagpur: During Operation Sindoor , the strikes on the Pakistani terror establishments were deliberately timed between the last and the first namaz (prayer). This was done to ensure that no innocent civilians, who would have gathered for prayers at that time, were harmed, said Lt General (retd) Vinod Khandare, former principal advisor to the ministry of defence. Khandare was in the advisor's post when India struck targets in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Talking to TOI on the sidelines of his lecture organised by Jan Manch, he explained that the last namaz of the day takes place in the night and the first happens early in the morning. The idea was to strike only the terrorists and not the civilians, who may have gathered after the prayer calls. Khandare said that as India hit nine terror establishments, it made the terrorists realise that they were not safe at their hideouts in Paksitan. They may have secured themselves from attacks on the ground, but India struck from the air, he said. The debris will remind even the locals or other visitors that India struck deep in their base, said Khandare. Replying to a question on concerns over cases against security forces personnel, Khandare said there was a time when the entire bar council of Jammu and Kashmir was radicalised. They would take up cases against security forces without any charges. This was from 2007 till as late as around 2016. The situation has changed now, he said.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Indus Water Treaty Favoured Pakistan, Left India With Little Share: Lt Gen Vinod Khandare
Nagpur: Retired Lieutenant General Vinod Khandare, former Principal Advisor to the Union Ministry of Defence during Operation Sindoor , has termed the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 as "unfair and biased towards Pakistan ." Speaking at a Jansamvaad event organised by Janmanch NGO, Khandare stated that the political leadership of the time gave away significant control over India's river resources, leaving the country with a disproportionately small share of the Indus waters. "The Indus River, originating from the Himalayas, carries a large amount of silt and sludge that used to accumulate in our dams," he said. "We wanted to de-silt it for efficiency, but were told the treaty doesn't permit us. Despite this, we cleaned the river." Khandare pointed out that the river flows from Indian states like Punjab and Haryana into Pakistan's Punjab, significantly boosting their agriculture. "They reaped harvests, earned revenue, and used that very money to fund terrorism against us," he said, underscoring the strategic imbalance the treaty has created. He added that all that changed in 2016, after a team of experts were appointed to asses and review the pact. General Khandare also raised alarms over China's covert meteorological manipulation program. According to him, China's Department of Weather Modification, with over 37,000 personnel, has been closely studying Indian monsoon patterns. "We discovered one of their meteorological sensors in the Bay of Bengal," he revealed, adding that China intends to redirect rain clouds meant for the Indian subcontinent towards Tibet and Sichuan. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Search & compare rates from major search-engines, along with local, reputable engines. Hotel Deals | Search Ads Browse Now Undo The motive, he said, is to support Beijing's industrial shift from its eastern coastal belt to inland provinces. Touching upon India's evolving defence posture, Khandare highlighted Operation Sindoor as a turning point. "The military had full operational control without political interference, which enabled decisive surgical strikes and air operations like the one at Jabbar Top," he said. The operation targeted terrorist launchpads and training facilities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, sending a strong message that no safe havens would be tolerated. Cyber warfare, he warned, is the new front. "Smartphones can now be weaponised. Cyberattacks, like the one that paralysed Estonia in 2008, can happen here too." He called for urgent investment in cyber resilience and civil defence, citing India's inadequate infrastructure—no public sirens in cities like Nagpur, and lack of shelters in urban areas, unlike Europe or Israel. "India's civil defence infrastructure remains alarmingly inadequate in the face of growing conventional and unconventional threats. Unlike countries like Israel, where every building has a shelter, or Europe, where metros are built underground for protection, Indian cities are ill-equipped. Nagpur, for example, lacks even basic sirens," Khandare said. General Vinod Khandare pointed out that while our armed forces may be battle-ready, the country lacks systems to protect its citizens in times of crisis or war. He further stressed the need for reforms in India's defence production. "With 41 ordnance factories underperforming, joint ventures and privatisation are no longer optional—they are essential," Khandare concluded by stating that only a self-reliant, strategically alert, and technologically equipped India can deter the evolving threats in a turbulent global order.
News18
28-06-2025
- Politics
- News18
Dependable Or Not? Lt Gen Khandare On Chinese Military Equipment At CNN-News18 Townhall
Last Updated: The official questioned the dependability of Chinese military equipment and asked if they are tested in combat. Lt General Vinod G Khandare, former Principal Adviser to the Ministry of Defence, hinted at CNN-News18 Defence Townhall that the Chinese military equipment may not be dependable in a real combat situation. Citing the instance of missiles provided to Pakistan by China, Khandare questioned if those were tested in combat. 'You look at what has happened to the Chinese missile PL-15. Where was it tested in combat? You look at JF-17, which was given to Pakistan. Where was it tested in combat? Once we are able to do reverse engineering, we will get to know if there was a defect there. So many generals are being sacked in China for corruption. You have heard that in the missile, instead of fuel, there is water. If that is the weapon system, if somebody is going to give, say from China to Pakistan, that is going to make our job easier," he said. More to follow…
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Army carrying out trials for solutions to counter drone attacks, says defence expert
The Indian Army is carrying out trials for solutions to counter drone attacks , which were used extensively by Islamabad in its response to Operation Sindoor launched against terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, a top defence expert said on Friday. Pakistan had sent swarms of drones and loitering munitions to counter India's air strikes on terror infrastructure across the border to avenge the terrorist attacks on tourists in Pahalgam. "The armed forces are already doing trials for their counter drone solution ," Lt Gen V G Khandare (retd), former Principal Adviser, Ministry of Defence, said in an interactive session at the India Space Congress organised by SIA-India. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Semua yang Perlu Anda Ketahui Tentang Limfoma Limfoma Pelajari India had repulsed a series of drone attacks launched by Pakistan using its home-built Akashteer air defence system , which has emerged as the key line of defence in warfare. Lt Gen Khandare (retd) said neither the Indian Army nor the Indian Air Force pilots crossed the border during Operation Sindoor, but were still successful in causing devastation on identified targets inside Pakistan. Live Events He, however, said the emerging use of technology in warfare does not diminish the importance of having "boots on the ground". "The Army will continue to do its land operations. You can keep punching somebody, but unless you go and stand on his (enemy) ground, it is not yours. So boots on the ground will determine who owns that particular area," Lt Gen Khandare (retd) said. "That is the leverage that will happen subsequently. If you do not go and capture that land you will have a defeated country promoting somebody as Field Marshal," he added. "As we strive toward the vision of Viksit Bharat, it is equally important to ensure Surakshit Bharat so balancing development with deterrence is essential to maintaining our national momentum and safeguarding our trajectory in the face of evolving global dynamics whether it's the integration of tri-services or broader national-level frameworks, space domain is becoming indispensable across all domains civil, military, and strategic," Lt Gen Khandare (retd) said.
Time of India
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
A good terrorist is a dead terrorist, no use going to UN, says defence advisor during Op Sindoor
Nagpur: Lt Gen (retd) Vinod Khandare, who was principal advisor to the ministry of defence during , told a select gathering in Nagpur on Friday that terrorists exploited the transition period when 3 Rashtriya Rifles was being pulled out for CRPF deployment and struck in Pahalgam. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "With 2.5 crore tourists visiting Kashmir, normalcy seemed to have returned, and this created a sense of complacency. Terrorists chose a remote area like Pahalgam to unleash mayhem as the majority of the security forces were stationed in high populated areas. The Army is wired to go, search and mark areas of threat, while CRPF enforces the 'naka-bandi' strategy. It's not their fault, that's how they are trained. It took just one bad day for the attack to happen, despite our round-the-clock surveillance," Lt Gen Khandare revealed during a conversation with Flight Lieutenant Shiwalee Deshpande organised by Prahar Samaj Jagruti Sanstha at Chitnavis Centre here. "Our strategy has always been to 'Go, Kill and Come Back'. We learnt this from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The first phase of Operation Sindoor was planned to blow up terror headquarters in . Not a single soldier crossed the border by land or air. Everything was done beyond the human visual range. We had six back-up plans in place. We wanted to avoid another Abhinandan incident, where the wing commander was taken hostage during the Balakot strikes," he said. The Lt General reiterated that neither has Operation Sindoor been called off nor has the Indus Water Treaty been restored. "This basically means that Pakistan has no idea what we might do next. We retain our element of surprise," he said. The defence apparatus wanted to adopt a different strategy from Uri and Balakot strikes, he said, adding "this time, we decided to attack Pakistan on such a mammoth scale that it won't know what hit them". Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "And for the first time, a hi-tech war was fought. The exit plan was strategized first, and we followed a simple protocol of selecting the target and maintaining it till the end. We decimated their terror launch pads. Pakistan retaliated by killing our civilians in Poonch and Uri. This is when we decided to bomb their air defence systems. That's the difference between India and Pakistan. They attack our civilians, and we strike their military. It was the Pak DGMO that appealed for a ceasefire," said the Army veteran and former Commanding Officer of the 14th Battalion, Garhwal Rifles. "There is only one way to deal with . Going to the United Nations or appealing to the international community will never work. For us, a good terrorist is a dead terrorist. The record needs to be set straight with Pakistan," he said. He also appealed to the Indian diaspora and the nation's cyber warriors to beat the enemy in the game of cyber bullying. The former chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency also shared that while the SM-400 Russian air defence system gained a lot of popularity, our homemade air defence guns — the L70 and Zu-23 — created a massive impact of their own. "Initially written off as outdated technology, these systems were revitalised through focused development and strategic upgrades. We equipped them with hydraulic boosts, making them faster and more powerful than before," he said. Khande added that they integrated proximity fuses along with shrapnel-based munitions into the missiles, allowing each explosion to destroy multiple targets simultaneously. These enhancements transformed the legacy systems into formidable assets on the modern battlefield. He also said that India needs to be more that just a Viksit Bharat — it also must become a 'Surakshit Bharat'.
