A brief exchange of fire took place along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. Indian Army soldiers retaliated to fire from a forested area across the LoC, and the exchange lasted for a short period. No damage was reported on the Indian side. The incident comes after several cross-border incidents last week, including an IED explosion that killed two army personnel. The ceasefire violation along the borders in J&K has become infrequent since India and Pakistan renewed the ceasefire agreement on February 25, 2021.
'The last thing he would want is new tensions with India.'
'Nor would it have serious implications in India's relations with Saudi Arabia that stand on their own and have improved significantly in recent times, including in defence and strategic affairs.'
Among the 24 injured are 14 civilians, including women and children, with several said to be in critical condition.
It is time we buried the mantra of 'peaceful and stable Pakistan is in our interest'. It is not, simply because Pakistan's existence -- that is synonymous with its army -- means peace has no chance, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (Retd). It is time we buried the mantra of 'peaceful and stable Pakistan is in our interest' asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (Retd).
Pakistan's Air Force Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu visited the US to enhance bilateral defence cooperation, following a similar visit by the Army Chief. The visit included meetings with US military and political leaders to discuss regional security, counter-terrorism efforts, and future cooperation.
Experts believe it would be far-fetched to believe that Riyadh would support Pakistan militarily in any conflict with India, which has robust strategic and economic relations with Saudi Arabia.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says India achieved all objectives of Operation Sindoor, emphasizing that escalating the situation to war with Pakistan was not the aim. He highlighted India's fight against cross-border terrorism and the successful exposure of Pakistan's air defense system.
'The picture only looks worse from where Bajwa sits.' 'He sees a domineering India to the east, an unravelling Afghanistan and a complex Iran to the west, an overbearing China on the north and a US which is no longer an ally,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Given the past practice in the Pakistan army, this delay is most unusual,' notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Trump said he had a series of phone calls on trade with both India and Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and setting up of 'mechanisms' to ensure lasting peace after days of violent clashes along the border that left several soldiers, civilians, and terrorists dead on both sides, officials said on Sunday.
The reopening brought a sense of relief to students, teachers, and parents across the region.
The meeting is being speculated to have revolved around the recent political developments in the country, with the local media reporting that the agenda of the meeting could have revolved around the upcoming Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) summit in Pakistan, the ongoing unrest in Balochistan and the upcoming no-confidence motion against Imran Khan.
Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah, 37, was killed on Tuesday in a clash with the Taliban militants in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan near the Afghan border, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army.
The Quetta-bound Jaffar Express was targeted in the Spizend area of Mastung on Tuesday, latest in a series of attacks that have targetted this train since March this year.
Terming the charge that Wangchuk incited the violence in Leh as 'misplaced', she claimed that he has been protesting in the "most Gandhian way possible" and the "situation escalated" on September 24 due to the actions of the CRPF.
"How can you have a strategic dialogue without including the military," Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke told reporters at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
The US and others have long complained that Pakistan provides safe haven to the Afghan Taliban and their allies, the Haqqani network.
The Pakistani army had shelled the brigade headquarters and other Indian military formations in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch on October 23.
These promotions will allow General Bajwa to shuffle the deck on the top, but this is likely to be a limited reshuffle, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The dossier has also named another officer, who has retired as a Major. The two officers have been referred as 'Major Iqbal' and 'Major Samir Ali,' sources said. The dossiers were handed over during the Indo-Pak Foreign secretary level talks.
'A six month extension, if not extended further, would make General Bajwa a lame duck chief, altering the balance of his equations with the senior peer group of lieutenant generals,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The Pakistan Army on Monday issued orders to recall nearly 300 officers deployed with various departments of the government and security agencies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a gathering in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, praising Indian soldiers and promoting the use of 'Swadeshi' goods. He also launched health and nutrition campaigns aimed at women and children.
Pakistan Army said on Thursday that it has 'nothing to do with politics' and it will remain apolitical in the future as well, as the powerful institution asserted that its chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was not seeking an extension and will neither accept one.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that his country respects Russia's relations with India, as he called for strengthening Islamabad's ties with Moscow during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.
Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza is the Pakistan army's new chief of general staff, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'War is not an answer. War is not a solution.' 'Deterrence is a solution. We should have the stick with us with which we can beat Pakistan.'
The SSP said the investigation of the matter and questioning of the infiltrator will be conducted later.
The Indian Army used Medium Machine Guns (MMGs) to target Pakistani Army forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC), inflicting heavy casualties during a ceasefire violation on the intervening night of May 7-8.
All the terrorist camps and around 15 launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "are full", according to top army commander Lt Gen B S Raju, who anticipates an increase in infiltration attempts from across the border this summer to replenish the diminishing terrorist cadres in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan is "in an active counterterrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world", the general said.
India has slammed Pakistan at a UN debate by drawing attention to the heinous crimes of gross sexual violence against women in erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971, adding the pattern continues with impunity to this day.
Pakistani troops entered Kotkai, the hometown of Hakimullah Mehsud and his close aide Qari Hussain, also known as trainer of suicide bombers, late on Saturday night after subjecting the village to heavy bombing by fighters and attack helicopters. In the intense battle, 13 militants and two soldiers were killed.
'Tehran senses that the Modi government is inexorably gravitating toward the US-Israeli-Saudi axis, jettisoning India's traditional independent Gulf policies,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
As a political storm brewed over Defence Minister A K Antony's statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers in Poonch, Congress today maintained he did not give a clean chit to Pakistani Army in connection with the incident.
Major General Asif Ghafoor's transfer indicates General Qamar Bajwa is well in control once more, pushing behind the discontent among the peer group of senior generals over extension of his tenure, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Pakistan's deteriorating political and security situation has fuelled media speculation that the powerful army may be forced to intervene amid reports it has even asked President Asif Ali Zardari to quickly set things right with his political rival and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan's military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor in a midnight tweet expressed disappointment at Gen Rawat's assertions.
