Op Sindoor: What India Actually Destroyed in Pakistan | NDTV Journalist - Vishnu Som

In this in-depth conversation, Prakhar Gupta interviews Vishnu Som, managing editor of NDTV and a leading expert on military and weapons systems, to dissect the realities of Operation Sindhuur—the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict. Som provides a detailed, evidence-backed account of India’s strategic air campaign, using Maxar satellite imagery to verify the destruction of key Pakistani air bases like Noor Khan and Sakhar, including the confirmed destruction of a Pakistani AWACS aircraft at Bolari. He debunks myths such as the Kirana Hills strike, asserting it never occurred. The discussion expands into modern warfare technologies, including directed energy weapons like Israel’s Iron Beam, drone warfare, AI-driven autonomous killing systems, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in intelligence, surveillance, and warfare. Som emphasizes that the future of national power lies in energy, weapons, and compute—especially AI and indigenous defense manufacturing. He highlights India’s growing capabilities through companies like New Space Research and Adani’s drone production, while also warning of the ethical and societal risks posed by AI, including job displacement, autonomous weapons, and deepfakes. The conversation concludes with reflections on geopolitical rivalries, the secrecy of advanced weapons programs, and the possibility of undisclosed technologies, including those potentially involving extraterrestrial intelligence.