India, Pakistan generals exchange warnings amid tensions at Shangri-La Dialogue as CDS Chauhan cites ‘red line’

High-ranking military leaders from India and Pakistan – Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza – issued warnings during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore amid increased tensions between the two countries.

As these countries are geographically close, several of their leading generals gathered in nearby conference rooms at the Shangri-La Singapore, engaging in concurrent sessions late Saturday afternoon discussing various subjects, including defense innovation strategies and regional crisis management systems, according to news agency PTI.

Speaking at the event, CDS General Anil Chauhan, referring to Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, said, “What India has done, politically, they have drawn a new red line of intolerance against terror.”

“I hope this particular operation, it is basically lying in military domain, that should bring about some lessons for our adversary also, and hopefully they learn that this is a limit of India’s tolerance,”  Anil Chauhan said .

“We have been subjected to this proxy war of terror for almost two decades and more, and we lost lot of people…we want to put an end to it,” the CDS added.

The continuing conflicts between the two neighboring countries captured interest at the global defense summit conducted from Friday to Sunday.

New Delhi blamed Pakistan-affiliated terrorist organizations for a lethal assault on tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22 that resulted in 26 fatalities, while Islamabad refutes any connection. In his speech, Pakistan’s General Sahir Shamshad Mirza highlighted the importance of shifting towards conflict resolution rather than mere management, cautioning that failing to do so might lead to a disastrous escalation.

During a panel discussion, titled “Regional Crisis-Management Mechanisms”, Mirza said: “It has become imperative to move beyond conflict management towards conflict resolution. This will ensure sustainable peace and assured crisis management.”

He then stressed that an “early resolution of Kashmir (issue) in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and as per the aspirations of the people is essential” for an enduring peace in South Asia.

“Given the Indian policies… the absence of a crisis management mechanism may not give enough time to the global powers to intervene and affect cessation of hostilities. They will probably be too late to avoid damage and destruction,” he said.

Mirza also raked up the Kashmir issue.

“When there is no crisis, Kashmir is never discussed, and as we always say that it is the Kashmir dispute resolution in line with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and in line with the UNSC resolutions that will address many issues.

“The core that resides between Pakistan and India is Kashmir,” he said.

Mirza said unless countries did not “enter conflict resolution” — which he said could initially be through conflict management and then lead to resolution — issues would “always erupt”.

The top general further said that following the military conflict, the “threshold of an escalatory war has come dangerously low, implying greater risk on both sides, not just in the disputed territory but all of India and all of Pakistan”.

“Emboldening of India as a net security provider by the West and its ambition to become a regional hegemon is disincentivising it to engage in conflict management options,” Mirza asserted.

Mirza also said that following the recent Pakistan-India military confrontation, the threshold of strategic stability had been lowered to “dangerous levels”.He stated, “The threshold of what we say conventional warfare has significantly degraded.”