Pakistan's Skardu base was on Op Sindoor hit list. A message for China?

Former CDS General Anil Chauhan revealed that Pakistan's Skardu air base was among the targets India had planned to strike during Operation Sindoor. The base, which was bombed in 1971, played a key role during the Kargil War. Why is it so vital to Pakistan?Pakistan's Skardu airbase is located just around 170 km from Kargil (AFP)Nearly three decades after the Kargil War, Pakistan's Skardu military base is back in the spotlight. Netflix's latest series, Operation Safed Sagar, sheds light on how Pakistan used the base to mobilise and reinforce troops who infiltrated the Line of Control (LoC). Located just around 170 km from Kargil, Skardu is back in focus after former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan revealed that it was among the Pakistani targets India had planned to strike during Operation Sindoor.It was the first time that the military officially disclosed that the Skardu base was in India's crosshairs. However, General Chauhan, who was the defence chief during Operation Sindoor, said the mission had to be aborted at the eleventh hour due to bad weather. A critical strike at Skardu would not only have dealt a massive blow to Pakistan, but also sent a tough message to China, as the military base provides security cover to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.SKARDU AIR BASE WAS ON INDIA'S CROSSHAIRSOffering fresh details about the operation, General Chauhan said Pakistan reached out to India at around 10 am on May 10 for talks.It was around this time that the IAF sought clearance to strike the Sargodha air base. "The Air Chief asked me whether we should strike Sargodha. I said, 'Go ahead'. I said, 'Please identify two more targets'. So one of the targets he identified was Skardu," the former CDS said. "We gave a yes, but after some time, the weather turned bad over it, and they had to change over to Bholari," he further said.Nevertheless, the IAF's brutal strike on the Bholari air base arguably emerged as the most striking symbol of the May 10 air campaign. Located in Karachi, the Bholari air base, which houses advanced aircraft like JF-17s and F-16s, suffered significant structural damage. Besides, Pakistan also went on to admit that six personnel were killed in the Bholari attack. Apart from Bholari, 10 other airbases, including Nur Khan, Rafiqui, Murid, Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, and Sukkur, bore the brunt of IAF's BrahMos, SCALP and Rampage missile strikes.However, if there is one Pakistani military base that has kept appearing in India's strategic calculus across all its conflicts is Skardu. The heavily guarded base has been a critical piece of Islamabad's military strategy along the India-Pakistan frontier. Former CDS Anil Chauhan revealed that the Bholari air base was targeted instead of Skardu WHY IS SKARDU IMPORTANT TO PAKISTAN?Why is it so vital to Pakistan? Firstly, Skardu's strategic significance lies in its geography. Located in Gilgit-Baltistan, perched along the Indus, Skardu is of immense importance for Pakistan due to its proximity to the LoC and Ladakh. Basically, Skardu is the gateway into Ladakh from the west. It is around 100 km from India's Leh air base.Strategically located opposite Kargil, Skardu also functions as the main operating base (MOB) for the Pakistan air force. It is believed to house an array of fighter jets and heavy transport aircraft.There are hardened shelters on both ends of the Skardu runway, which likely house fighter aircraft such as the JF-17 and the Mirage 2000.Significantly, Skardu is one of the key military bases that provide security and logistics cover to Chinese infrastructure projects being constructed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Thus, if India had struck Skardu, it would have further added to China's tensions over security concerns surrounding its investments in Pakistan.Already, repeated terror attacks targeting Chinese nationals in Gilgit-Baltistan have triggered anger in Beijing."By hitting this airbase, India would have clearly signalled to China that it better stay out of this conflict, otherwise it will not end well for its strategic interests in the region, and India will not hesitate in hitting it hard if need arises," defence analyst Divya Kumar Soti tweeted last year.Earlier this year, China publicly acknowledged for the first time that it provided on-ground technical assistance to the Pakistan military during Operation Sindoor. Indian military officials have also said China provided real-time intel inputs to Islamabad during the conflict. The Skardu base was bombed by the IAF in 1971 While India might have missed an opportunity to bomb Skardu during Operation Sindoor, it had pulverised the air base in the 1971 conflict. While all the focus was on India's east, infiltration attempts from Gilgit and Skardu were also a cause of worry.To push back Pakistani misadventures in the west, the IAF penetrated deep into enemy airspace and bombed the main runway at Skardu. For the mission, the IAF deployed three Canberra aircraft and an An-12 jet. The bombing was carried out during daytime and from the south-eastern direction, taking Pakistan by surprise and dealing a body blow.Interestingly, details of this operation, such as tactics and strategy, were not revealed as it might be of importance to the military planners even today.During the Kargil war, Pakistan used Skardu to support its army operations as they illegally occupied high-altitude strategic outposts on the Indian side of the LoC.It was an important logistics node and staging area for troops before they moved into the forward areas. This was shown in great detail in the Netflix series.In fact, before the conflict started, Pakistan had started moving additional battalions to Skardu - a warning sign that experts argue India failed to interpret correctly.We now know that this same air base was among the targets identified by the IAF during Operation Sindoor. A year since the hostilities, more details of the operation are gradually coming to light.What would have been the consequences had the IAF struck the Skardu air base? Was the target also intended to send a message to China, given the strategic importance of Chinese projects in the region? Perhaps we will have clearer answers in the days to come.For now, Operation Sindoor continues to intrigue us, even a year after the guns fell silent.- EndsPublished By: Abhishek DePublished On: Aug 26, 2026 14:10 IST