'There's something called deterrence by punishment.' 'That means you hit in a manner calculated to raise costs and consequences for Pakistan, so that the next time it attempts a Pahalgam-like attack, it has to think ten times.'
The Indus system of rivers comprises the main river -- the Indus -- along with its five left bank tributaries, namely, the Ravi, the Beas, the Sutlej, the Jhelum and the Chenab. The right bank tributary, the Kabul, does not flow through India.
Most villagers decided to stay back to harvest crops, their only source of livelihood.
A villager was injured as Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire four times overnight by pounding civilian hamlets and posts with 120 mm and 82 mm mortar bombs along the International Border and the Line of Control and LoC in Jammu and Poonch districts, drawing retaliation from the Army and BSF.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
There was no traditional exchange of sweets and pleasantries between the two sides along the International Border, the officials said, attributing it to the tense situation following the recent ceasefire violations by Pakistan Rangers that left a Border Security Force jawan dead.
Pakistani Rangers opened firing from their Ashraf Post directly targeting Indian post at Narayanpur in Ramgarh sector in the Samba district, Jammu and Kashmir, at 7 am. Firing stopped after 15 minutes.
A broad consensus has been achieved by India and China on restoring the 'ground situation' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) pursuant to talks, including for patrolling and grazing cattle in the traditional areas, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
The discussions took place on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
Violating the ceasefire yet again, Pakistani Rangers resorted to firing of mortar bombs on border out posts along the International Border in Jammu district.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
'We do not want to fall into a trap of uncontrolled escalation or all out conflict.' 'When the need arises we will do that.'
Over 100 border dwellers have been evacuated and put in safe shelters
The ceasefire violation comes after nearly seven months as last such incident took place on September 18, 2015 in the Balakote sector of Poonch district.
'It could take the form of sporadic LoC violation through heavy artillery and mortar fire, focusing on border villages where the Hindu Dogra population is predominant.'
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China's national legislature -- the National People's Congress (NPC) -- on October 23 adopted the new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas which drew sharp reaction from India as it was passed amid the protracted military standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh region.
'If they aim to remain aligned with the public sentiment, as any democratic government should, then they must respond. Why else would the prime minister have cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia? And why would he have instructed the home minister himself to travel to Srinagar to assess the situation firsthand? This suggests that something is indeed being planned. I am quite certain of that, although the exact form it will take remains to be seen.'
The youth said he was taken close to the frontline but his health deteriorated after spending sleepless nights as the war raged on.
'It showed me that this man had courage. He makes his own decisions, but he also trusted me enough in that moment to walk with me into the crowd,' Modi tells Lex Fridman on his podcast.
'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.'
Forest land that will also be exempted includes land situated within 100 km along the international borders, Line of Control, or Line of Actual Control, proposed to be used for construction of strategic linear projects for national importance or security.
The GoC said the security forces have also recovered a huge quantity of narcotics which establishes a deep nexus between defence establishments in Pakistan and terrorist groups.
'Neither are Baloch insurgents capable of breaking up Pakistan, nor has Pakistan learned any lessons from the 1971 debacle that led to the country's dismemberment.'
At present, there is no scheme to compensate victims of cross border firing.
The Indian Army is looking at deploying over 350 light tanks, mostly in the mountainous border areas.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday asked the Army to maintain strong vigil along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China as the situation in the northern sector remained "tense" in view of deployment of PLA troops.
Jaishankar said that both sides also exchanged views on the next steps in the India-China bilateral ties.
The official said the firing and mortar shelling from the Pakistani side started around 1 am and continued for over four-and-a-half hours.
'Putin dreams about his legacy. He wants to forcibly restore the Russian empire.' 'Unfortunately, after three years of large-scale war with massive human losses, Putin will not budge from his goal because human life is the cheapest resource in the Russian State.'
At a time when tensions are high over the repeated ceasefire violations perpetrated by Pakistan's troops at the Line of Control and China's incursions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the country's top military officers at the defence ministry.
The Jaishankar-Wang talks came amid the dragging border row in eastern Ladakh that entered its fifth year in May.
The Jammu and Kashmir government said it has forwarded a proposal for construction of community bunkers along the Line of Control and International Border to the home ministry for consideration.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
In their first structured bilateral talks in nearly five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday agreed that India and China can have a 'peaceful and stable' relationship by displaying maturity and mutual respect and endorsed the pact on the resolution of the dragging eastern Ladakh border row.
However, the government rejected the army's demand to implement the scheme with retrospective effect from June last year, when the Doklam face-off between Indian and Chinese armies had begun, official sources said.
Jaishankar said the last few years have been a "period of serious challenge", both for the relationship and for the prospects of Asia, noting that continuation of the current impasse will not benefit either India or China.
In escalating ceasefire violations that continued on the night of October 7, Pakistani troops targeted over 40 Border Out Posts and 25 border hamlets with heavy mortar shells in Jammu sector and LoC areas in Poonch district, leaving 12 people including a JCO injured. Military officials of India and Pakistan discussed on the hotline the cross-border firing in Jammu and Kashmir but there was no signs of a solution.
'We are alive only because of these border bunkers,' say residents.
The BSF also said multiple infiltration bids by Pakistan along the International Border have been foiled in recent past.
