The CII Business Summit 2025's inaugural session witnessed a rousing standing ovation and a felicitation ceremony for the defence top brass sending a strong message about India's rising military industrial complex and hghlghting that security is a top-of-the-mind issue for India Inc.
The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
'One good outcome of Operation Sindoor -- perhaps, its best outcome -- could be that India has resumed meaningful contact directly with Pakistan at the military-to-military level,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), have unanimously hailed the armed forces' "Operation Sindoor", a retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, which involved missile and drone strikes, was conducted in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Despite political differences, all parties expressed support for the government and the armed forces, stressing the importance of national unity and integrity in the face of terrorism. While emphasizing the need for diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation, some parties also called for caution in attributing political credit for the strikes.
Significantly, these 12 officers would form a major part of the team that the new army chief will inherit, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
'Fears in Washington began to intensify when it was realised that subsequent Pakistani and Indian attacks on major military facilities -- which were significant in terms of geographic scope and intensity -- could rapidly take both sides to where neither actually wanted to go.' 'The US objective was to stop the fighting as soon as possible. Everything else was secondary.'
Reddy alleged that contracts worth thousands of crores were awarded to people close to Modi, who then purchased Rafale aircraft.
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.
With respect and gratitude we honour the memory of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Operation Sindoor.
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.
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.'
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
About 416 Myanmarese soldiers crossed over to India in view of the situation arising out of the fighting between Myanmar's armed ethnic groups and the government forces, and Indian military is 'closely watching' the unfolding developments, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Thursday.
Terming Pakistan as a 'failed state', National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah Thursday said relations between New Delhi and Islamabad would never improve until a peoples' government is elected in the neighbouring country.
The Karnataka high court has granted an interim stay on criminal proceedings initiated against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya and Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, in connection with allegations of spreading false claims that the Indian National Congress (INC) operates an office in Istanbul, Turkiye.
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.
Pakistan has halted the construction of contentious canals in Punjab province after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir. The decision to suspend the canals project was made after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and agreed to address the concerns of Sindh province, where the project had sparked protests. The canals project, aimed at irrigating the desert region in Punjab, was seen as a threat to water resources in Sindh. Both sides have agreed to seek consensus on the issue in the Council of Common Interests (CCI), a high-powered inter-provincial body. Meanwhile, Pakistan has reiterated the importance of the Indus Water Treaty for its water security and economy, and condemned India's move to suspend it.
Punjab and Rajasthan, which share borders with Pakistan, have gone into full alert mode following India's retaliatory missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Punjab Police has cancelled leaves of all its personnel and shut schools in six border districts, while Rajasthan has also cancelled leaves of administrative officials and police personnel deployed in the border areas and closed schools in four border districts.
The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh will hold a three-day training camp for its leaders from June 14 in Pachmarhi in Narmadapuram. The move comes amid the party facing flak for some statements from its leaders post Operation Sindoor. BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been invited to the camp to lecture the party cadre. The BJP said the event was pre-planned and was a routine affair, but the camp is seen as an attempt to discipline party leaders who have been making controversial statements.
Pakistan claims it was a mosque and an educational complex that were hit in the strikes at Muridke, located at about 40 km from Lahore.
India-Turkiye ties are strained over Ankara's Islamabad tilt, its arms links with Pakistan, and fallout from the Pahalgam terror attack.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, offering condolences to families affected by cross-border shelling and encouraging students who lost two classmates to the violence. During an hour-long visit, Gandhi met with students at the convent school that lost the twins, and visited families whose homes were damaged in the shelling.
The casualties were reported hours before India and Pakistan agreed to end hostilities, which soared after the Indian Armed Forces hit terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir earlier this week in response to the Pahalgam attack.
'A terrorist has no religion -- they are nothing but the face of evil. When you offer namaz for a terrorist, attend their funeral, or give them a grave, you affirm that they belong to a religion. That must stop'
Soon after Kharge's remarks, Tharoor put out a cryptic post on X in which there was an image of a bird with the caption --"Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one..."
Chawdhary announced this after laying a wreath at the Amar Prahari memorial at the BS Headquarters in Jammu in remembrance of the fallen soldiers.
'We will inform them how Pakistan not only helps terrorists, it also provide training to them to target India and spread terror.'
Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for a dialogue with the military establishment, saying the country is currently governed by "jungle law." Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, also said that rumors of a deal being made with him are entirely false. He criticized the government's handling of the economy, terrorism, and India's alleged attacks, and warned that Pakistan's moral and constitutional framework has been destroyed.
Last week, Information Minister Atta Tarar had said that 24-36 hours were important, fearing a possible strike by India. However, the time passed and there was no action by India.
In trying to portray a globally sanctioned terrorist as a 'common man', Pakistan was exposed when its top official publically outed crucial details about Hafiz Abdul Rauf, including his national identity number which matched details in the database of the United States sanction list of terrorists.
'Many senior officers are unhappy with him, but many lower level officers are still supportive.' 'This is also not something that has happened for a long time. So this is certainly a milestone.'
'We've moved from thousands killed yearly in Jammu and Kashmir to 127 last year.' 'Cross-border terrorism in Kashmir is being solved. We are winning it.'
The Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan on Monday deliberated on various aspects of the May 10 understanding reached between the two sides on cessation of hostilities.
Former ISI DG Faiz Hameed's arrest sends a strong message to PTI supporters that Imran Khan's culpability for the May 9, 2023 violence could well be drawn within the purview of military courts, especially if General Hameed turns approver to save his skin, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting with top defence officials, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the chiefs of three services, amid India weighing its countermeasures following the Pahalgam terror attack which left at least 26 civilians, mostly tourists, dead. Modi has vowed to pursue the terrorists behind the attack and their patrons, a clear reference to Pakistan, to the "ends of earth" and inflict harshest punishment on them.
A former Bangladesh army officer and close aide of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has suggested that Dhaka should collaborate with China to occupy India's northeastern states if it attacks Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Bangladesh's interim government has distanced itself from the remarks made by Major General (Retd) ALM Fazlur Rahman on his social media account. Rahman's comments come amidst growing tensions between India and Bangladesh following Yunus' remarks in China about India's northeastern states being landlocked and needing Bangladesh's access to the ocean. These incidents have further strained relations between the two countries, with India withdrawing transhipment facilities granted to Bangladesh for exporting goods to the Middle East, Europe, and various other countries.
'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.'
One person was injured on Friday during the Rath Yatra procession in Ahmedabad, when a male elephant, agitated by excessive noise, broke a barricade and rushed into a narrow lane, officials said.