New Delhi [India], September 13 (ANI): Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir hid himself in a bunker during Operation Sindoor, and elevated himself to the position of a field marshal to avoid public scrutiny, Lieutenant General KJS (Tiny) Dhillon (retd) said on Saturday.

'The only Army chief who went into a bunker during the operations and the only Army chief who elevated himself to a field marshal just to avoid the public scrutiny. Also the only army chief to be accompanying the head of state to the SCO meeting,' the retired army official said in an exclusive interview with ANI.

'Only army chief to be called by American president for lunch. So much for democracy, so much for sporting the democratic structure. Pakistan Army is the only Army in the world which has never won a war, only war in the world after WWII had 93,000 surrenders,' he added.

Lt Gen Dhillon, who served as the Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DG DIA) and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence) under the Chief of Defence Staff from March 2020 to January 2022, is currently the chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi.

Pakistani army chief Munir was elevated to the rank of a field Marshal on May 20, 13 days after India struck terror bases in Pakistan and 10 days after an agreement on cessation of hostilities was reached. Munir is the second person to be elevated to this rank, with former president Ayub Khan, and first Army chief of independent Pakistan.

Lt Gen Dhillon further highlighted how with a 'new India' other countries did not question the operation.

'Now, when we go and hit nine terror targets as a response to Pahalgam, no one questions us. Because now we are a new India. So, it is important to tell your point but the other person understands your point better if you have a gun in hand,' the retired Army official said.

He further said that 'new India' is a military might and soon to be the third largest economy.

'Response was required every time and response was apt this time, but more importantly, this time we are the fourth largest economy, going to be third. We are a military might, when we do something now people won't question. People didn't question America when they came into Abbottabad and picked Osama bin Laden because America was America,' he said.

Lt Gen (retd) Dhillon has recently authored a new book titled 'Operation Sindoor, The Untold Story of India's Deep Strikes Inside Pakistan,' which details how India responded to the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year.

At least 26 people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, following which India launched Operation Sindoor. India conducted precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), and also repelled Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases.

Earlier, on August 10, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh revealed that India had taken down at least five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor and destroyed one large aircraft at a distance of about 300 kilometres. He said the aircraft brought down was 'the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about.' (ANI)