Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the US has called on both countries "not to escalate" the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow. The US State Department said Washington is reaching out to both India and Pakistan "regarding the Kashmir situation" and telling them "not to escalate the situation."
'However, we must implement a tit-for-tat approach -- reciprocating their conduct with precision.' 'If they demonstrate respect, we respond accordingly. If they adopt hostile positions, we mirror that hostility with equal intensity.'
IPL match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala was abruptly halted midway due to escalating security concerns on Thursday.
While Indian Air Force ace pilot Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman was accorded the Vir Chakra, Army Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, who was killed in the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack, was accorded the Shaurya Chakra (posthumously) by President Ram Nath Kovind in an investiture ceremony on Monday.
Bollywood celebrities have extended support to the nation and offered prayers for the safety and well-being of the people.
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).
India has accused Pakistan of breaching an understanding reached earlier on Saturday to stop military actions. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said there have been repeated violations of the understanding since the evening, and that the Indian armed forces are giving an appropriate response.
'Unlike the surgical strikes and the Balakot air strikes across the LoC, we have gone further inside Pakistan and raised the bar of escalation.'
India has to fill in all the critical gaps in missiles, ammunition, sensors and stockpile in the fastest possible manner, focusing on the critical instruments that worked this time, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Simultaneously, the US has urged both India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions.
The highlight of Tuesday's debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
The report came a day after the Indian Army announced that it launched "punitive fire assaults" on Pak posts.
Raj Kumar Thapa, additional district development commissioner, Rajouri, and his two staff members were seriously injured when an artillery shell hit his official residence in Rajouri town, the officials said.
'With a military-led strategy to counter terrorism emanating from Pakistan, India has clearly signalled that it would respond decisively to future terrorist threats.'
Defence attaches of several major countries who are part of many international groupings, as also of several Islamic countries attended the briefing, sources said.
The tri-services chiefs while addressing the media also said that the forces were in a state of heightened readiness to deal with any eventuality.
'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.'
'We do not want to fall into a trap of uncontrolled escalation or all out conflict.' 'When the need arises we will do that.'
In a calibrated operation, the Indian Navy on Saturday 'coerced' 35 Pirates onboard a merchant ship around 1,400 nautical miles from the Indian coast to surrender and ensured the safe evacuation of 17 crew members without any injury, officials said.
'The Pakistanis were not the mujahids or terrorists as claimed initially.' .'They were trained soldiers who held state of the art anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down our airplanes.'
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
Asserting that India will not tolerate any 'nuclear blackmail', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said operations against Pakistan have only been kept in abeyance and the future will depend on their behaviour.
'...they were shocked to learn that just 352 Indian soldiers had made 3 brigadiers, 2 colonels, 170 officers, 290 JCOs and 8,000 troops surrender to the Indian Army.'
'We need to raise the costs and consequences for Pakistan. It is long overdue. Our initial surgical strike was effective for about six months. Then, the Balakot strike provided a deterrent for perhaps two to three years. But we cannot operate under the assumption that such limited responses will suffice for decades to come.'
'If there is a military standoff eyeball to eyeball on the western border, the Chinese could create problems by making movements in the north, in our northeast, which could involve us tying down some forces there so that could stretch our military actions.'
'Nine missiles from India had been pointed towards Pakistan, to be launched any time that day'
'In many cases, I didn't take money because the Indian students had run out of cash.' 'The biggest high was the blessings that these students's parents used to give me on the phone or send messages thanking me on WhatsApp.'
The repeated successful raids of the TTP into military establishments underline the poor state of physical security and the likely complicity of insiders with the TTP raiders, says B Raman
The external affairs ministry conveyed strong objection to the neighbouring country at the "vulgar display" of an injured personnel in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention.
Operation Sindoor is not just a name but India's latest policy against terror as it has set a new standard, a 'new normal' in counter-terrorism measures, Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday.
'It is purely based on real-time hard intelligence.' 'Timing is important. When you are attacking at 3.30 am, then everybody will be in the academy of terrorists.' 'If you attack at 10 am then someone will be out, so timing is very important.' 'Therefore, 3.30 am is the time when every terrorist is sleeping.'
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.
'The Indian gung-ho leadership may like to think about it, there should never ever be a doubt in anyone's mind, friend or foe, that Pakistan's operationally ready nuclear capability enables every Pakistani leader the liberty, the dignity and the courage to look straight into the Indian eye and never blink.'
The United States has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to India. The decision was announced by President Donald Trump during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House. India is currently working on the logistics of Rana's surrender and extradition, with several final steps to be completed before he is sent back to India. The joint statement issued by India and the US during Prime Minister Modi's visit reaffirmed their commitment to fighting terrorism and eliminating terrorist safe havens. The leaders also called on Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles. He is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
DRDO to develop an army version of the medium range surface-to-air missile.
The announcement was greeted by thumping of desks by Pakistani lawmakers.
There is no immediate comment from the Indian Air Force on the findings of the probe.
'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.
