In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
At about 2 am on Wednesday, seven unidentified men arrived near the picnic spot on Mhow-Mandleshwar road and started beating up one of the officers sitting in a car and also the women, he said.
'Whatever we do, the purpose will be to re-establish deterrence.'
At least 10 militants were killed in a gunfight with an Assam Rifles unit in Manipur's Chandel district on Wednesday, officials said. The operation is still in progress, they said.
'The lesson Beijing would have learned is that there is, cost-benefit wise, no better option than to keep the Pakistan military supplied with its most advanced armaments, certain that in hostilities with India these would be used for maximum effect.'
"More than 85,000 domiciles have been issued to non-locals, creating a pathway for demographic change in Jammu & Kashmir. These non-locals arrive posing as tourists, obtain domiciles, and then begin to act as if they own the land. Consequently, violence will be directed toward those attempting to settle illegally," TRF said in a statement which could not be independently verified by Rediff.
Pakistan on Wednesday summoned the Indian charg d'affaires and lodged a strong protest against the Indian military strikes.
Vijay, with his chief ministerial ambitions, is a one-man army, at least as of now, and his campaign team considers him omnipresent. He has to be present in all districts, if not all constituencies at the same time, as there is no second-line leader or platform speaker in the party, who can draw crowds, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Lieutenant General Shakti Gurung deserves to be complimented in telling his life story and that of his people, as subaltern communities within this vast and diverse nation of ours clamour for recognition and a plea for their voices to be heard and their aspirations to be met, notes Lieutenant General Gautam Moorthy.
India has warned Pakistan against its unprovoked firings along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir as the directors general of military operations of the two armies spoke on the hotline amid the escalating tensions over the Pahalgam terror attack.
In a strong retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre, India's armed forces early Wednesday destroyed nine terror sites including that of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) using deep strike missiles in a 25-minute-long 'measured and non-escalatory' mission.
A multi-agency operation is underway in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir to track down three terrorists believed to be hiding in a forested area. The operation, which resumed Thursday, involves the Indian Army, Police, CRPF, NSG, and BSF. The terrorists are suspected to be part of a group that has had multiple encounters with security forces in the past few weeks, resulting in the deaths of four policemen. The operation is being conducted with aerial surveillance, sniffer dogs, and multiple surveillance-cum-ambushes. Six people, including some women, have been detained for questioning in connection with the terrorists' movements.
Seven accused army personnel, including a major general and two colonels, escaped from any punishment even though a military court initially and a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry found they were involved in the alleged crime.
In a communication addressed to the army, Jammu Divisional Commissioner Raghav Langer said that due to the strike by electricity department personnel, essential services have been severely affected in Jammu region.
'Will this near-war, India's strongest military response so far, buy India another seven years of deterrence?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
'America holds about 16% of IMF voting rights, giving it crucial influence over Pakistan's desperately needed bailout loans.'
Jaishankar said that the Pahalgam attack "was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed."
Operation Sindoor has carved out a new benchmark in our fight against terrorism, and has set up a new parameter and new normal. Operation Sindoor is not just a name but a reflection of the emotions of millions of Indians. Operation Sindoor is an unwavering pledge for justice. Terrorists dared to wipe 'sindoor' from the foreheads of our sisters; that is why India destroyed the very headquarters of terror.
Congress MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi stoked controversy by demanding proof of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan territory in the past under the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.
'Trump's sons, and the son of Trump's Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff, are in the crypto business and recently signed deals with Pakistan's crypto council.' 'It may not be coincidental that not long before the Trump-Munir meeting, the head of Pakistan's crypto council met with Trump's White House crypto policy czar.'
'The Pakistani State has to realise that the pigeons have come home to roost.'
'The Pakistanis called the US state department and said we agree with India on peace.' 'It was then that US President Donald Trump jumped in and took credit for the ceasefire.'
The stock and bond markets told Trump firmly that any idea of isolating China would lead to harming the US economy and this forced Trump to backtrack, points out Aakar Patel.
This marked the sixth consecutive night of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC, amidst heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following a recent terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
India strongly rejected Pakistan's 'unwarranted aspersions' over United Nations processes and attempts to deflect attention from atrocities committed against children in the country and rampant cross-border terrorism, asserting that the world has not forgotten the Pahalgam attacks.
Trump's new rules for how countries should treat him have led to the current breakdown in India-US relations, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Pakistan's troops have engaged in unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in five districts of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting retaliation from the Indian Army. This marks the eighth consecutive night of such incidents, following heightened tensions stemming from a recent terror attack in Pahalgam. Civilians residing along the LoC and IB are preparing their bunkers in anticipation of potential escalation.
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Bangladesh's interim government on Wednesday dismissed as 'completely baseless' and 'misleading' the media reports that claimed it has dropped the 'Father of the Nation' title for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and revised the definition of freedom fighter.
The foremost lesson for India today is to beef up its air defence to cater for multiple drone attacks. As seen in Operation Sindoor, we have come a long way, but there's room for getting better. We must develop a robust and almost impregnable air cover over ourselves, asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
The 53-second video, shot using a selfie stick, showed people running for their lives, with one of them falling, apparently after being gunned down by a terrorist.
While six of them have been held from Punjab, five were nabbed from neighbouring Haryana, and one from Uttar Pradesh.
Regarding the possibility of talks, the minister said he was not aware of any such potential engagements.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday condemned Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah's controversial remarks about Colonel Sofia Qureshi, a senior Army officer who briefed the media along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh during Operation Sindoor.
'If Pakistan's army wants to escalate violence in Kashmir, they have an unlimited supply of jihadis they can train and send. That's not an issue for them.'
The exchange of fire occurred even though the directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan spoke over the hotline on Tuesday amid rising tensions between the two countries over the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
Himanshi Narwal had asked people not to target Muslims and Kashmiris following the April 22 terror attack near south Kashmir's Pahalgam, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
'Five hours of bombardment by the Pakistanis should not have happened.' 'India should have sent the air force to bomb the Pakistanis where they were raining fire on us.'
The Border Security Force (BSF) remains on high alert along the International Border (IB) and has not let its guard down, BSF Inspector General, Jammu Frontier, Shashank Anand said on Tuesday. Operation Sindoor, aimed at preventing infiltration attempts, continues as Pakistan cannot be trusted, he added. Anand highlighted the BSF's robust response after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, including destroying multiple terror launch pads and thwarting infiltration attempts.
'The precision strikes were well planned and excellently executed. The world will be studying this operation.'