Everybody talks of China as the real threat, but we aren't even building a decisive capability against Pakistan, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 'person through which' prior information on India's air strikes in Balakot in Pakistan in 2019 was made available to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.
'As one might expect, he believed the Indians were preparing their nuclear weapons for deployment. It took us a few hours - and remarkably good work by our teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad - to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war'
'We took the initiative after Balakot and continued to hold it, forcing Pakistan to react.' 'This was not the case in the Kargil conflict.' 'At that time we 'reacted' to Pakistan's actions,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
He pointed out that after air strike there were no major terrorist attacks during the Lok Sabha polls because it acted as a deterrent.
I witnessed Abhinandan Varthaman shooting Pakistan's F-16, says Yudh Seva medal awardee Minty Agarwal
He said around 500 infiltrators were waiting to infiltrate into the country.
'I will need a few more pictures, sir, can I get some time from you for a more extended photo shoot?' asked Singh. Modi, ever-obliging before the camera, laughed. 'Sure, but let us plan to do it after my swearing-in is over in May!' The Balakot effect was evident. A fascinating excerpt from Rajdeep Sardesai's 2019: How Modi Won India.
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.
Last month, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had revealed that Pakistan very recently "reactivated" the terror camp in Balakot.
Residents in the mountainous area town told BBC Urdu they were woken by loud explosions.
In his Air Force Day message, Bhadauria, who took charge as the Chief of Air Staff a little more than a week ago, said to ensure operational success in all future operations, the IAF must maintain a high serviceability of combat equipment and exceptional training standards.
The video showed the story of airstrikes which IAF carried out on Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot, Pakistan on February 26, earlier this year.
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.
Thousands of travellers suffer flight cancellations, delays and soaring ticket prices due to Pakistan's decision to close its airspace for flights to and from India.
Even a whiff of an incident like the violent 1989 shirt-ripping attack on Krishnamachari Srikkanth by a Karachi spectator would be ruinous. It would set back the ties further, derail an ongoing tournament, and harden Indian attitudes on playing Pakistan anywhere at all, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The IAF has insisted it hit its targets. If that is indeed true, then the lack of obvious damage could mean it has used a different bomb -- possibly procured secretly from Israel.
'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).
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.
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.
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.
It will be for the first time in nearly nine years India's external affairs minister will travel to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained frosty over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
'Their (Pakistani) objective was to hit our army places. They could not and that is the bottom line'
In an interaction with a group of Indian journalists, the three-time prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N described Jaishankar's visit as a "good opening" and said both sides should now engage and move forward.
'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.
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.
The report said that Pakistan also plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing New Delhi of "eco-terrorism".
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.
The Indian Air Force is monitoring the developments along the western front, he said.
India failed to extract the 'price' from Pakistan for its Kargil misadventure.
The price could have been military in terms of loss of territory/soldiers/equipment or destruction of terrorist training infrastructure. Giving a 'face saving' option to Pakistan proved disastrous for the future, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
It seems in the geopolitics of the 21st century, we can see the subcontinent acting as one geopolitical entity to secure its economic interests. Key to this transformation is a strong India that is pre-eminent but not dominant, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
He reaffirmed the government's commitment to resolving any outstanding issue in the way of growth and development of indigenous defence industries.
"The holy water of the Sharda Kund at the Sharda Peeth PoK was collected by Tanveer Ahmed and his team. Our civil society member across the LoC (Line of Control) carried it to Islamabad, wherefrom it was sent to his daughter Maghribi in the UK.
'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.
The government on Thursday reappointed former IPS officer Ajit Doval as the National Security Adviser (NSA), according to an official order.
The speech he gave in which he accused the Congress of getting black money in tempos from Ambani and Adani is remarkable.' 'It is a self-goal for sure, but indicates someone who has lost control, someone who is rattled.'
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.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
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