Independence Day celebrations start
Rallies were held across the city by PPP, MQM-P and other political parties while the city's administration was busy in ramping up security for the festive occasion.
Exclusive ceremonies were held at the CM House and the Governor House. MQM-P staged a rally at the Quaid's Mazaar with a vow that as the heirs of the founders of the country they would continue to defend its ideological and geographical boundaries.
Sindh Minister for Energy, Planning, and Development, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that the month of August reminds us of the sacrifices of the martyrs who laid down their lives for the creation and protection of Pakistan. In the Ma'arka-e-Haq (Battle for Truth) our armed forces displayed remarkable bravery, valor, and resilience, which not only brought the honour to the country and pride for the Pakistani nation. This instilled a strong sense among the people that Pakistan is an invincible nation and that its defence lies in capable hands.
He expressed these views while addressing a ceremony held on Friday at the Department of Energy, organised under the auspices of the Sindh Transmission & Dispatch Company (STDC), as part of the Independence Day and Ma'arka-e-Haq celebrations.
The event was hosted by STDC CEO Saleem Sheikh and attended by Secretary of Sindh Energy Department Mushtaq Soomro, MD of Thar Coal Energy Board Tariq Shah, Project Director of SSEPP Mahfooz Ahmed Qazi, Secretary of Sindh Transmission Dispatch Company Umar Nawaz Sheikh, CFO Sajjad Ahmed Junejo, Senior GM Technical Tariq Saeed, along with other senior officials.
On this occasion, the energy minister cut a cake to mark the celebration and shared it with attendees. Additionally, commemorative badges were distributed at the event by STDC CEO.
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But Reuters interviews with two Indian officials and three of their Pakistani counterparts found that the performance of the Rafale wasn't the key problem: Central to its downing was an Indian intelligence failure concerning the range of the China-made PL-15 missile fired by the J-10 fighter. China and Pakistan are the only countries to operate both J-10s, known as Vigorous Dragons, and PL-15s. The faulty intelligence gave the Rafale pilots a false sense of confidence they were out of Pakistani firing distance, which they believed was only around 150 km, the Indian officials said, referring to the widely cited range of PL-15's export variant. India signs $7.4 billion deal to buy 26 Rafale fighter jets 'We ambushed them,' the PAF official said, adding that Islamabad conducted an electronic warfare assault on Delhi's systems in an attempt to confuse Indian pilots. Indian officials dispute the effectiveness of those efforts. 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After Pakistan downed Indian jets, Indonesia weighs purchase of China's J-10s Pakistan's military referred to past comments by a spokesperson who said that its professional preparedness and resolve was more important than the weaponry it had deployed. China's defense ministry did not respond to Reuters' questions. Dassault and UAC, the manufacturer of the Sukhoi, also did not return requests for comment. 'Situational awareness' Reuters spoke to eight Pakistani and two Indian officials to piece together an account of the aerial battle, which marked the start of four days of fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbors that caused alarm in Washington. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters. Not only did Islamabad have the element of surprise with its missiles' range, the Pakistani and Indian officials said, but it managed to more efficiently connect its military hardware to surveillance on the ground and in the air, providing it with a clearer picture of the battlefield. Such networks, known as 'kill chains,' have become a crucial element of modern warfare. Four Pakistani officials said they created a 'kill chain,' or a multi-domain operation, by linking air, land and space sensors. The network included a Pakistani-developed system, Data Link 17, which connected Chinese military hardware with other equipment, including a Swedish-made surveillance plane, two Pakistani officials said. The system allowed the J-10s flying closer to India to obtain radar feeds from the surveillance plane cruising further away, meaning the Chinese-made fighters could turn their radars off and fly undetected, according to experts. Pakistan's military did not respond to requests for comment on this point. Delhi is trying to set up a similar network, the Indian officials said, adding that their process was more complicated because the country sourced aircraft from a wide range of exporters. Retired U.K. Air Mshl. Greg Bagwell, now a fellow at RUSI, said the episode didn't conclusively prove the superiority of either Chinese or Western air assets but it showed the importance of having the right information and using it. 'The winner in this was the side that had the best situational awareness,' said Bagwell. Change in tactics After India in the early hours of May 7 struck targets in Pakistan that it called terrorist infrastructure, Sidhu ordered his squadrons to switch from defense to attack. Five PAF officials said India had deployed some 70 planes, which was more than they had expected and provided Islamabad's PL-15s with a target-rich environment. India has not said how many planes were used. The May 7 battle marked the first big air contest of the modern era in which weaponry is used to strike targets beyond visual range, said Bagwell, noting both India and Pakistan's planes remained well within their airspaces across the duration of the fight. Five Pakistani officials said an electronic assault on Indian sensors and communications systems reduced the situational awareness of the Rafale's pilots. The two Indian officials said the Rafales were not blinded during the skirmishes and that Indian satellites were not jammed. But they acknowledged that Pakistan appeared to have disrupted the Sukhoi, whose systems Delhi is now upgrading. Other Indian security officials have deflected questions away from the Rafale, a centerpiece of India's military modernization, to the orders given to the air force. India's defense attaché in Jakarta told a university seminar that Delhi had lost some aircraft 'only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack (Pakistan's) military establishments and their air defenses.' India's chief of defense staff Gen. Anil Chauhan previously told Reuters that Delhi quickly 'rectified tactics' after the initial losses. After the May 7 air battle, India began targeting Pakistani military infrastructure and asserting its strength in the skies. Its Indian-made BrahMos supersonic cruise missile repeatedly sliced through Pakistan's air defenses, according to officials on both sides. On May 10, India said it struck at least nine air bases and radar sites in Pakistan. It also hit a surveillance plane parked in a hangar in southern Pakistan, according to Indian and Pakistani officials. A ceasefire was agreed later that day, after U.S. officials held talks with both sides. 'Live inputs' In the aftermath of the episode, India's deputy army chief Lt. Gen. Rahul Singh accused Pakistan of receiving 'live inputs' from China during the battles, implying radar and satellite feeds. He did not provide evidence and Islamabad denies the allegation. When asked at a July briefing about Beijing's military partnership with Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters the work was 'part of the normal cooperation between the two countries and does not target any third party.' Beijing's air chief Lt. Gen. Wang Gang visited Pakistan in July to discuss how Islamabad had used Chinese equipment to put together the 'kill chain' for the Rafale, two PAF officials said. China did not respond when asked about that interaction. The Pakistani military said in a statement in July that Wang had expressed 'keen interest in learning from PAF's battle-proven experience in Multi Domain Operations.'
