Gen Sharma served as the Army chief from 1988-1990 and was a colonel when he took part in the 1971 war.
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.
'For weeks, months and years, it would continue to be debated if India should have pushed the early advantage and decapacitated Pakistan militarily.' 'India refused to bite the provocatively proverbial bullet and escalate it into a full-fledged war,' notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The announcement on expansion of CPEC was made following a meeting among Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Beijing, according to a Pakistani readout.
Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said that a stable relationship between India and Pakistan is key to unlocking the potential of South and Central Asia by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia.
'Please don't worry about casualties. It is a professional hazard beyond our control,' wrote Kargil Hero Major Padmapani Acharya in his last letter from the battlefield.
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.
Emotional scenes were witnessed across the country as the last rites of those killed in shelling by Pakistan during the recent military conflict with India were performed on Sunday.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has started interviewing eyewitnesses, including tourists, in connection with the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, south Kashmir. The attack, carried out by terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed the lives of 26 people on April 22. Initial investigations suggest that five to seven terrorists were involved, aided by local militants trained in Pakistan. Security forces are conducting massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range.
'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.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, had helped co-conspirator David Coleman Headley to obtain an Indian visa, a Mumbai police official familiar with the probe said. Rana was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday evening following his extradition from the United States. Rana, who had served in the Pakistan Army medical corps, had emigrated to Canada in the late 1990s and started an immigration consultancy firm. He later moved to the US and set up an office in Chicago. Through his firm, Rana gave cover to Headley to carry out reconnaissance mission in Mumbai prior to the November 2008 attacks and helped him get a ten-year visa extension. During his stay in India, Headley used the front of running an immigration business and was in regular contact with Rana. There were more than 230 phone calls between the two during this period. Rana was also in touch with 'Major Iqbal', another co-conspirator of the attacks during this period, as per the NIA charge sheet. Rana himself visited India in November 2008. As per the charge sheet filed by Mumbai Police against Rana in 2023 in the 26/11 attack case, he lived in a hotel in Powai, and had a discussion about crowded places in South Mumbai with a person who has been listed as a witness in the case. Subsequently, some of these places were targeted by the Pakistani terrorists during the deadly attacks that claimed 166 lives.
The Pakistan army is staring at the greatest, scariest, existential threat to its power in their country. This threat has come from a populist riding democratic power, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the Operation Sindoor undertaken by the Indian armed forces in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack has "completely exposed" the fact that terrorism in India is sponsored by Pakistan. Shah also said that the operation showed the "firm" political will of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the "precise" intelligence inputs from agencies, and the "lethal" capabilities of the armed forces. He added that the operation was successful as it used the correct firepower and achieved its aims besides "showing the reality" to Pakistan.
'Will Imran compromise with the army? We are all human beings. We all compromise.'
India registered its protest at the board of IMF, which met on Friday to review the EFF lending programme for Pakistan.
'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.'
'Every decision India makes along the LoC, it must also consider implications along the LAC.'
'Surgical strikes or air strikes, or both, are likely on the table.'
The nation will always remain indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty, the official added.
'Unfortunately, India and Pakistan could learn a 'lesson' from this conflict that will make them more likely to use these weapons against each other in the future.' 'Rounds of missile and drone attacks could be more routine features of their hostility, just like artillery fire has become a familiar fact of life along the Line of Control.'
'The tank battle was fought at ranges of 300-700 metres.' 'It was a rare example of the complete destruction of a squadron by another squadron.'
Army troops on Thursday apprehended a Pakistani soldier who had crossed over to the Indian side along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. A 19-year old Pakistani sepoy has been apprehended by the troops in Kerni Forward Area in Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir around 6 am on Thursday, army officials said.
The body of Tabarak Hussain (32) was handed over two days after he died of cardiac arrest at a military hospital in Rajouri district, officials said.
This move is seen as part of efforts to strengthen China's ties with Pakistan and safeguard Chinese investments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, particularly related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
'India for its survival has to change its doctrine from no first use to a pre-emptive attack in case of any hostile move by Pakistan,' recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been taken into 18-day custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in India. Rana was extradited from the United States after years of legal battles and will be questioned to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the attacks.
The action comes in response to ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir,
"The Pakistani army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic weapons and mortars from 0515 hours in Poonch sector along the LoC," a defence spokesman said.
Over 100 terrorists, including high-value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, were eliminated during Operation Sindoor on May 7, the Indian military said on Sunday.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has congratulated both the previous UPA government and the current dispensation for the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Sibal expressed confidence that the extradition will shed light on the involvement of individuals within Pakistan's establishment in the attacks. Rana is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 terror strikes. Sibal highlighted the efforts of the UPA government in establishing the NIA and pursuing Rana's extradition, and also acknowledged the current government's success in bringing him back to India. The interrogation is expected to focus on Rana's potential ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his role in the Mumbai attacks.
'When one air force (India's) hits the other's airbases with impunity and that air force (Pakistan's) is not able to respond, then the air force, which has put the other's airbases out of commission, has won.'
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
Pakistan was waiting for an opportunity to bring the Jammu and Kashmir issue to the global agenda and resorted to the terrorism route to provoke India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
This is fourth consecutive day of firing and shelling by the Pakistan army.
Lance Naik Mohammed Naseer, 35-year-old from border district of Poonch in J&K, was hit during the firing.
The United States said it encourages 'direct communication' between India and Pakistan and commends Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for choosing the path of peace.
The killing of Naik Rajib Thapa, 34, raised the death toll in the cross-border firing in the past week to four -- three soldiers and one civilian.
The firing from across the border started soon after the army noticed some suspicious movement along the LoC in Nowshera sector, the sources said.
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.
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
