‘Response Will Be Fierce, Punitive’: DGMO Lt Gen Ghai Warns If Pakistan’s Ceasefire Violation Continues

<p>India has issued a stern warning to Pakistan, asserting that any further ceasefire violations will be met with &ldquo;fierce and punitive&rdquo; action, after cross-border firing and drone intrusions were reported just hours after a mutual agreement to cease military action.</p>
<p>Speaking at a defence briefing on Sunday, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, said he had spoken to his Pakistani counterpart at 15:35 hrs on May 10, resulting in &ldquo;cessation of cross-border firing and air intrusions by either side with effect from 17:00 hrs, 10th of May, after he proposed that we cease hostilities.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Lt Gen Ghai elaborated on the next steps agreed upon during the conversation: &ldquo;We also decided to further speak on the 12th of May, that&rsquo;s tomorrow at 1200 hours to discuss the modalities that would enable the longevity of this understanding. However, disappointingly and must I add, expectedly, it took only a couple of hours for the Pakistan army to violate these arrangements by cross-border and across the Line of Control firing, followed by drone intrusions across the expanse of the western front through last night and in the early hours of the morning today. These violations were responded to robustly and dealt with as they must be.&rdquo;</p>
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<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>Delhi: DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai says, “…We also decided to further speak on the 12th of May, that’s tomorrow at 1200 hours to discuss the modalities that would enable the longevity of this understanding. However, disappointingly and must I add, expectedly, it took&hellip; <a href=”https://t.co/qIiumldoQL”>pic.twitter.com/qIiumldoQL</a></p>
&mdash; IANS (@ians_india) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ians_india/status/1921567469204111545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<p>DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said a hotline message has been sent to Pakistan conveying that clear intent to respond to any ceasefire violations ‘fiercely and punitively’ if repeated tonight.</p>
<p>Highlighting India&rsquo;s firm stance, he added: &ldquo;We have earlier today sent another hotline message to my counterpart highlighting these violations of the understanding between the DGMOs on the 10th of May and our firm and clear intent to respond to these fiercely and punitively if repeated tonight, subsequently or later. In this regard, I must inform all of you that the Chief of Army Staff has earlier today conducted a security review and has granted full authority to our army commanders for counteractions in the kinetic domain in case of any violation by Pakistan.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Lt Gen Ghai further clarified that while Pakistan had not crossed the International Border (IB) or the Line of Control (LoC), there were airspace intrusions. &ldquo;Each of these were effectively thwarted,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<h3><strong>Air Marshal AK Bharti On Pakistan’s Drone Attacks</strong></h3>
<p>Air Marshal AK Bharti, speaking on the air defence operations, detailed the drone attacks that took place on the night of 8th and 9th May. &ldquo;Starting as early as 22:30 hours, our cities had a mass raid of drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, starting right from Srinagar going right up to Naliya,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>He credited India&rsquo;s preparedness for averting damage. &ldquo;We were prepared and our air defence preparedness ensured that there was no damage on the ground or to any of the intended targets that the enemy had planned for,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>Air Marshal Bharti said that in a calibrated response, India struck key enemy military sites. &ldquo;We once again targeted the military installations, surveillance radar sites at Lahore and Gujranwala&hellip; Drone attacks continued till morning, which we countered. While the drone attacks were being launched from somewhere closer to Lahore, the enemy had allowed their civilian aircraft also to continue to fly out of Lahore, not only their own aircraft but also international passenger aircraft which is quite insensitive and we had to exercise extreme caution,&rdquo; he added.</p>
<p>On the targeting strategy, he stated, &ldquo;We targeted their terrorists; the adversary targeted our civilians and military infrastructure. In a quick and calibrated response, we struck their radar installations at Lahore and Gujranwala, to indicate we are ready but do not want to escalate.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Following the violations, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi held a security review with Western Commanders. According to the Army, he has granted &ldquo;full authority to Army Commanders for counteraction in the kinetic domain&rdquo; in the event of any further breach of the ceasefire understanding agreed on May 10.</p>
<p>India and Pakistan had earlier announced an agreement to halt all military actions across land, air, and sea with immediate effect. The violations have cast a shadow over the tentative peace effort.</p>