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The Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos (MARCOS) were deployed alongside the Indian Army in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab during Operation Sindoor, highlighting the increasingly joint and integrated nature of India’s military operations, the Ministry of Defence’s Annual Report for 2025-26 has revealed.
The report, while detailing the Navy’s role in the operation following the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, says Indian Navy Special Forces elements equipped with precision munitions were part of the strikes on terror infrastructure on May 6-7.
The disclosure assumes significance as it underlines that Operation Sindoor was not confined to conventional employment of the three services in their traditional domains, but involved the integration of specialised capabilities across land, sea, air and other domains.
According to the Annual Report, frontline naval assets, including the Carrier Battle Group and submarines, were forward deployed in the North Arabian Sea in an offensive posture, maintaining the capacity to strike selected targets at sea and on land when ordered.
Operating as a networked composite force, the Navy maintained persistent Maritime Domain Awareness through its surface, air, space and shore-based assets. Its forward deployment, the report says, denied Pakistan operational space and established control of the maritime domain.
The report attributes a significant role to the Navy’s deterrent posture, stating that the threat of overwhelming force from the sea played a vital role in Pakistan seeking an urgent ceasefire on May 10.
The operational role of MARCOS in the land theatre was subsequently disclosed by former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, who said the naval commandos had been deployed in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab to assist ground forces.
“Not many know, but the Marcos were also deployed in J&K and Punjab. The naval weaponry and personnel helped in engaging the targets identified by the Army,” Gen Chauhan said while addressing a gathering in Ranchi last year.
His disclosure provided a significant insight into the joint character of the operation, with naval special forces operating well beyond their traditional maritime environment in support of Army operations on land.
Gen Chauhan had also highlighted the Navy’s long-range strike capabilities available during Operation Sindoor, pointing to its ability to contribute to engagements against targets identified by the Army.
The Navy’s role was not limited to the deployment of Special Forces. During the operation, then Director General Naval Operations and current Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral AN Pramod had stated that the Navy was prepared to strike both at sea and on land, including targets such as Karachi, at a time of India’s choosing.
The Navy’s forward deployment also forced Pakistani naval and air assets to adopt a largely defensive posture, with their movements continuously monitored by Indian forces.
The account in the Annual Report, coupled with Gen Chauhan’s disclosure, offers a picture of Operation Sindoor as a networked, multi-domain and joint military operation, in which capabilities of one service were employed in support of another.
For the Indian military’s ongoing push towards integrated operations and theatreisation, the MARCOS deployment alongside the Army provides a particularly important operational example – specialised naval forces were employed inland while the Navy’s wider maritime posture simultaneously imposed a strategic constraint on Pakistan.
The experience also reinforces the emerging emphasis on jointness, cross-domain employment and integrated targeting, with the three services expected to operate increasingly as a composite force rather than as separate entities confined to their traditional operational domains.
Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
