The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Surgical strikes or air strikes, or both, are likely on the table.'
'...without massive amounts of force.'
'With the Balakot strike, India has now established a precedent for response to any new terrorist attack engineered by Pakistan.' 'This will stay irrespective of who wins the coming elections,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The worst-hit in the Pakistani shelling was Poonch district which accounted for all the civilian deaths, the officials said, adding 28 persons were also injured and the condition of some of them was stated to be critical.
'It is important India to stay focussed on its primary national objectives: Combating terrorism; not losing sight of other security and strategic concerns (on the Sino-Indian front for instance); ensuring a strong economy and registering growth which includes improving the lot of common people; and finally making certain that the social fabric remains intact and harmony among people is not jeopardised, at least any further,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'Whatever we do, the purpose will be to re-establish deterrence.'
'Every decision India makes along the LoC, it must also consider implications along the LAC.'
The attacks against the Pakistani air force have taken them at least five years back and caused great damage to them and their Chinese and Turkish inventory of weapons.
The sources said Indian Army had finalised contracts to procure ammunition worth Rs 11,000 crore after the Uri terror attack in September 2016, and it has received 95 per cent of the total order.
'Pakistan is no longer a front-burner issue for America.'
'Their (Pakistani) objective was to hit our army places. They could not and that is the bottom line'
'There's a lot of sense in what Prime Minister Modi did, but the Indian government has to be really prepared for a really sharp escalation spiral.'
'I am worried that Pakistan will still feel compelled to take substantive military action beyond this apparent drone activity.' 'If so, the crisis could persist for a while more and dangerous days are still ahead.'
'India today feels enough is enough and we need to teach Pakistan a lesson.' 'Unless compelled, Mr Modi will think 10 times before taking the extreme step.'
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
'This strike has certainly enhanced your image.' 'Otherwise, people would have called you a damp squib, capable of doing nothing except talking big.'
'If deterrence through India's conventional superiority is to be established now, then India will have to escalate to a point where its greater resources make the difference.' 'This is, to put it mildly, both difficult and dangerous and thus inadvisable,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
'It could be the Pakistan army's commercial interest, tactical or strategic interest or one of their leaders.' 'Even if you send a message that we have attempted to kill one of the Pakistani generals, that itself will serve the purpose.'
Everybody talks of China as the real threat, but we aren't even building a decisive capability against Pakistan, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The report said that Pakistan also plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing New Delhi of "eco-terrorism".
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force who shot down a Pakistan air force F-16 during a dogfight on February 27 earlier this year, flew a MiG-21 Bison aircraft during the Air Force Day parade at Hindon Air Base. Three Mirage 2000 aircraft and two Su-30MKI fighter aircraft also flew in the 'Avenger formation'. The planes are being flown by pilots who took part in Balakot airstrike. Here are highlights from the parade.
'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 bombs to be procured are an advanced version of the Spice-2000 bomb, which can be used to reduce enemy buildings and bunkers to rubbles in no time.
India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear installations on Wednesday, fulfilling a decades-old agreement that prohibits attacks on each other's atomic facilities. The exchange took place amid strained relations between the two countries over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism. The agreement, signed in 1988, mandates the annual exchange of such lists, which has occurred for the 34th consecutive year.
The Indian Air Force is monitoring the developments along the western front, he said.
He reaffirmed the government's commitment to resolving any outstanding issue in the way of growth and development of indigenous defence industries.
'In the Balakot operation, we had technology on our side, and we could launch precision stand of weapons with great accuracy.'
The move is expected to give a major relief to Air India, which suffered a huge financial loss of around Rs 491 crore.
Pakistan troops also fired on forward posts and civilian areas last night in Rajouri.
The red corner notice was issued on the request of the CBI against seven accused in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on December 24, 1999 -- Yousuf Azhar, Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter, Sayed Shakir and Abdul Rauf, they said.
Whenever Pak carries out such violations, we also retaliate effectively, the Indian army said.
At present, Pakistan has some edge with its fleet of F-16 jets with AMRAAM missile fitted with them, said an official.
India was continuously keeping an eye on the movement of the Pakistani military but after Indian Air Force hit the Jaish terrorist factory in Balakot, one of the most advanced Pakistani Agosta-class submarines - PNS Saad - vanished from the Pakistani waters, a senior government source said.
His comments came hours after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in the Pakistani capital to attend the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The last Indian external affairs minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan.
'Can any nation claim, guarantee that there will be no terror strike?'
It is the first time in nearly nine years that India's foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
'Commission is of the considered view that in this matter no such violation of the extant advisories/provisions is attracted'
The brief exchange and handshake between Jaishankar and Sharif took place at a banquet dinner hosted by the Pakistani prime minister at his residence in honour of the delegates attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
