Daily Briefing: India's doctrine against terror; Virat Kohli retires from Tests

Indian Express

13-05-2025

Good morning,
My earliest cricket memories are with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid. These legends defined the game for an entire generation. I was a teenager when a young, fiery Virat Kohli burst onto the scene, full of ambition, attitude, and undeniable talent. He became the player I grew up with, celebrated, defended, and grieved over after every low. Kohli was my Sachin. Yesterday, he stepped away from Test cricket. The announcement was a stark reminder that time spares no one, not even the best of us. The thought of a Playing XI without his presence feels surreal. There will be new prodigies, records will tumble, and cheers will roar. But Kohli, with all his fire and flaws, remains irreplaceable.
Our national sports editor, Sandeep Dwivedi, captures the essence of Kohli. Read his piece here.
I will get back to Kohli in a bit. Before that, let's dive into today's edition.
Operation Sindoor pushed the envelope of India's response to terrorism, striking deeper inside Pakistan's territory. Addressing the nation for the first time since the operation began, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid down the new 'normal'. India's war on terrorism now comes with a new 3-point doctrine:
In doing so, the Prime Minister called out Pakistan's nuclear posturing. It came on the day the Indian armed forces, for the first time, flagged the use of China-supplied weapons in Pakistan's arsenal, used against India.
While Operation Sindoor successfully thwarted Pakistan's aerial strikes, it opened up a Pandora's box of challenges for the Modi government. To begin with, there is the social media chatter of those who feel let down by the pause in military action. Then there is US President Donald Trump, who has claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire. Read Neerja Chowdhury's column as she unpacks the optics around Operation Sindoor.
Meanwhile, the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan spoke for a second time yesterday. Both sides have decided to ease tensions further and reduce troops at the borders and forward areas.
Also read: All about Pakistan Air Force assets that India hit
Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai is set to take oath as the Chief Justice of India tomorrow. His tenure may be short (it ends in November), but for a man who grew up in the slums of Amravati, it's no mean feat. He will be the second Dalit community member to be CJI. Gavai has several high-stakes cases to his name. He set safeguards against arbitrary arrests in stringent laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He was part of the seven-judge bench that delivered a landmark verdict in favour of the sub-classification of the Scheduled Caste quota. My colleague Omkar Gokhale traces the journey of Justice Gavai, from his school days to the Supreme Court bench.
The kill: Rajasthan's iconic Ranthambhore tiger reserve has witnessed two deaths in less than a month. Was something sinister at play? Experts point to 'thoughtless interventions', such as live-baiting, and 'oversights'.
Bitter pill: Medicines in India may no longer come cheap as Trump forces pharma companies to align drug costs in the US with the cheapest ones abroad. With India and other developing markets expected to pick up the slack, prices may increase, and distributors and patent drug manufacturers may face reduced margins.
Hold on: The US and China have agreed to pause their trade war for 90 days and suspend the high tariffs placed in place after April 2. The deal was inevitable, given that consumers face the brunt of costlier imports. So, who won this round—did anyone? And what happens now? I will let Udit Misra explain.
Framing conflict: At the height of the India-Pakistan tensions, a trio of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Army, her Air Force counterpart, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri instilled a sense of calm with their incisive updates from the battleground. The message was powerful. In the face of external pressures, India was united. National opinions editor Vandita Misra writes on the need to hold on to that ethos.
As promised, I leave you with this insightful report by my colleague Sriram Veera on the future of Team India. With Kohli and Rohit Sharma's exit, selectors are left with a largely inexperienced team and likely a novice captain. Have the younger lot got what it takes? Read.
That's all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
Sonal Gupta is a senior sub-editor on the news desk. She runs The Indian Express's weekly climate newsletter, Icebreaker. Apart from this, her interests range from politics and world affairs to art and culture and AI. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023.
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