In a significant shift, Kashmiris from villages once considered strongholds of militancy have joined the condemnation of the recent massacre of 26 people in Pahalgam, raising slogans against terrorism and expressing solidarity with the victims. This unprecedented display of public sentiment across the valley marks a possible turning point in the region's fight against violence.
Pakistan has banned Indian-flagged ships from entering its ports with immediate effect after India imposed fresh punitive measures, including a ban on the import of goods and entry of Pakistani vessels into its ports, against Islamabad amid heightened tensions following the Pahalgam terror attack. The move comes after India announced a raft of punitive measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, shutting down of the only operational land border crossing at Attari, and downgrading of diplomatic ties following the terror attack. The Pakistan Army has also conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali Weapon System, a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 km, saying it was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters. India considers the test launch of the ballistic missile a "blatant" act of "provocation."
Following the deadly Pahalgam attack, Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, issued a strong statement and said that 'it is now the duty of India to do to Pakistan and to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) what Israel did to Hamas', calling for decisive action against Pakistan's intelligence agency for its alleged role in supporting terrorism.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said, "Topmost Pakistani terrorist affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM, Lamboo, killed in today's encounter." The IGP said Mohammad Ismal Alvi alias Lamboo alias Adnan was from the family of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
United States Charge d'Affaires Natalie Baker on Wednesday met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as part of efforts to de-escalate tensions with India following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 in which 26 people were killed.
A total of nine terror sites in Pakistan, including five in Pojk, linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (Jem), were targeted with meticulous planning to avoid civilian casualties.
'Pakistan is economically very weak and will not be able to sustain a war for long.'
Munir was among those in Pakistan who oversaw the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, according to Tilak Devasher, a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and who retired as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat.
"We hit India by entering inside. Our achievement in Pulwama is the achievement of the entire community under the leadership of Imran Khan. You all also have credit (for it), Chaudhry told the National Assembly on Thursday.
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).
'We will take all necessary steps to ensure that Abir Gulaal is not released in India.'
In the India-Pakistan situations, off-ramps have come either through foreign mediation (after months of kinetic warfare over Kargil, and a long stand-off with Op Parakram) or when a situation made it possible for both sides to claim a win, explains Shekhar Gupta.
'I am the daughter of a martyr and had lost my father in Kashmir in 1994. I understand what drastic circumstances life brings in front of you.'
'The fight against terrorism will continue. We have set a new normal and the new normal is that we will follow an offensive strategy. Wherever terrorists are, we have to kill those terrorists and we have to destroy their infrastructure. So it is still not over but as we speak the ceasefire is still intact'
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has called for de-escalation between India and Pakistan, expressing deep concern over rising tensions following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Guterres reiterated his condemnation of the attack and urged both sides to avoid a confrontation, which he described as catastrophic. The Secretary-General has also offered his good offices to support de-escalation efforts. The President of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang, has also expressed concern over the escalating violence and called for a resolution through diplomatic means. Meanwhile, Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack and reiterated its commitment to fighting terrorism.
"According to you Congress should guarantee foolproof intelligence to BJP and nothing should be asked of the BJP," Raj said in a post on X.
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.
Gandhi asked who in the Bharatiya Janata Party government had been held accountable for the security lapses that allowed the attack.
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.
Main imports from the neighbouring country during April-January 2024-25 included fruits and nuts (USD 0.08 million), certain oil seeds and medicinal plants (USD 0.26 million), and organic chemicals.
India's sporting fraternity, including Olympic medalists Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu, expressed grief and condemnation over the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.
US President Donald Trump strongly condemned the terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of the "heinous attack". Trump conveyed his deepest condolences at the loss of innocent lives in the terror attack and said that India and the United States stand together in the fight against terror. The attack, which killed 26 people, mostly holidayers from other states, is the deadliest in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019. Modi, who was on a two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, cut short his visit and returned to New Delhi on Tuesday night after the attack.
Terrorists opened fire at a popular tourist spot near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly holidayers from other states, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
The Indian military also acknowledged suffering some losses but declined to provide the details as the operations are going on.
'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.'
Mohammad Iqbal Rather, 25, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, had allegedly facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq -- a member of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and the key conspirator in the case -- after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in the Jammu region in April 2018, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorist slogans, the protestors demanded action against Pakistan for "sponsoring terrorism in the Valley."
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.
In a statement, the agency said the bail was granted to Yousuf Chopan, who had been arrested by the NIA in a terror conspiracy case, and not the February 2019 attack case.
At least 40 CRPF jawans were killed after the convoy of 78 buses, in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, came under attack on February 14, 2019.
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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.
The nine targets struck under 'Operation Sindoor', four in Pakistan and five in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, were chosen by the IAF after receiving intelligence inputs about terror camps operating under the guise of health centres to evade detection at these sites, officials said on Wednesday.
Twenty-seven months after she lost her husband in an anti-insurgency operation in south Kashmir's Pulwama, 29-year-old Nitika Kaul on Saturday donned the army uniform after completing a one-year rigorous training in Tamil Nadu.
'Surgical strikes or air strikes, or both, are likely on the table.'
'...without massive amounts of force.'
'...and the country should be impoverished completely.' 'Once this is done, the political class would take over and then play a part in real democracy where the army is under the control of the government, not vice-versa.'
"I want to spend one night with you people and understand your problems," Shah said addressing the security personnel at the CRPF campus, adding it was his 'most important' engagement during his visit to the Union territory.
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.
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.
