logo
Is nuclear war between India and Pakistan inevitable?

Is nuclear war between India and Pakistan inevitable?

Spectator07-05-2025
Yesterday evening Indian prime minister Narendra Modi authorised missile strikes on jihadi training camps located in Pakistan's East Punjab and Pakistani Kashmir. It is retaliation for the attack on Hindu tourists allegedly carried out by the Pakistani Jihadi groups Lashkar-e-Taibi and Jaish-e-Muhammad in Indian controlled Kashmir on 22 April.
Does this mean all-out war between the two nuclear powers is inevitable? Not necessarily. Since Indian partition, the perennial casus belli in the subcontinent there have been three major wars between India and Pakistan. The First Indo-Pakistan War (1947-1948) and the Second Indo-Pakistan War (1965) were both fought over the Kashmir issue.
The third Indo-Pakistan War of 1977 was fought over Bangladesh. The result of the conflict won by India enabled Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, to achieve independence.
A fourth, the Kargil War, in 1999 is better characterised as a mini-war, which followed Islamist militant and regular army infiltration of high-altitude mountains in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Modi vows to deepen India-Russia ties despite Trump tariffs
Modi vows to deepen India-Russia ties despite Trump tariffs

Telegraph

time13 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Modi vows to deepen India-Russia ties despite Trump tariffs

Narendra Modi has vowed to deepen India's ties with Russia, despite Donald Trump's tariff threats over buying Russian oil. India's prime minister described Vladimir Putin as a friend following a 'good and detailed' phone call that came days after the US president doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent because of the Russian oil trade. 'Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine,' Modi said in a post on X on Friday. 'We also reviewed the progress in our bilateral agenda, and reaffirmed our commitment to further deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.' Peace talks in Alaska Referring to India and Russia's annual bilateral summit, he added: 'I look forward to hosting President Putin in India later this year.' In a joint statement issued later, the two leaders reaffirmed the commitment to their countries' partnership. Putin is scheduled to meet Mr Trump in Alaska on August 15 for talks over the war in Ukraine. The tariffs placed on India by the US are aimed at pressuring India over its imports of Russian oil, the money from which is helping Putin fund his war. Bur Mr Modi's comments suggest that despite the pressure from Mr Trump, India has no plans to pull away from Russia. 'The only big power that India is comfortable with is Russia,' Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst for India at International Crisis Group, told The Telegraph. ' Russia has been an all-weather ally of India. It's been a long and reliable friend. It is like a legacy relationship that goes back six decades and India cannot suddenly go out of that and cannot jump into the US and the West bandwagon. 'Trump is using that to put pressure on India by citing India's stance on the Russia -Ukraine war.' Last week, Mr Trump described India and Russia's economies as 'dead', and accused India of not caring about those killed in the conflict in Ukraine. And he has indicated that he may even pause trade talks with India until the oil issue is 'resolved'. Rejecting the idea of speeding up negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement, he said: 'No, not until we get it resolved,' apparently referring to his demand that India cease importing Russian oil until the war in Ukraine is over. Russia has expressed solidarity with India amid pressure from Mr Trump, who has imposed 50 per cent tariffs that are set to come into force on Aug 27. 'Sovereign countries have the right to choose their own trading partners,' Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said, criticising calls to 'force countries to sever trading relations' with Russia as 'illegitimate'. India has defended its Russian oil purchases, calling it a move necessitated by 'global market conditions'. Rajnath Singh, the Indian defence minister, has deferred an upcoming US visit for several months as the tariff dispute casts a shadow. It was originally scheduled for the last week of August. On July 1, Pete Hegseth , the US Defence Secretary, had a phone call with Mr. Singh – their third this year – during which he invited him to the US for an in-person meeting to advance bilateral defence cooperation.

Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine
Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine

Leader Live

timea day ago

  • Leader Live

Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine

Mr Trump announced the meeting in a post on social meeting and said more details would follow. Earlier, the President had said he will meet 'very shortly' with Mr Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine and that he will announce the location soon. 'We're going to have a meeting with Russia, start off with Russia. And we'll announce a location. I think the location will be a very popular one,' Mr Trump said. Those comments came as Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war and Mr Trump's deadline arrived on Friday for the Kremlin to make peace. Exasperated that Mr Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Mr Trump almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. Mr Trump's efforts to pressure Mr Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace. Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 620-mile front line that snakes from north-east to south-east Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages. Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements being sent from there to Donetsk. In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow is not interested in peace. 'It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,' Buda, a commander of a drone unit in the Spartan Brigade, told The Associated Press. He used only his call sign, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military. 'I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them,' he said. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw, said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion. 'We are on our land, we have no way out,' he said. 'So we stand our ground, we have no choice.' The Kremlin said that Mr Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Mr Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Mr Xi 'expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis.' Mr Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the US says. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said on X that he also had a call with Mr Putin to speak about the latest Ukraine developments. Mr Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, which the American president says is helping to finance Russia's war. Mr Putin's calls followed his phone conversations with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the Kremlin said.

Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine
Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine

South Wales Guardian

timea day ago

  • South Wales Guardian

Trump says he will meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine

Mr Trump announced the meeting in a post on social meeting and said more details would follow. Earlier, the President had said he will meet 'very shortly' with Mr Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine and that he will announce the location soon. 'We're going to have a meeting with Russia, start off with Russia. And we'll announce a location. I think the location will be a very popular one,' Mr Trump said. Those comments came as Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war and Mr Trump's deadline arrived on Friday for the Kremlin to make peace. Exasperated that Mr Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Mr Trump almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. Mr Trump's efforts to pressure Mr Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace. Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 620-mile front line that snakes from north-east to south-east Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages. Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements being sent from there to Donetsk. In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow is not interested in peace. 'It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,' Buda, a commander of a drone unit in the Spartan Brigade, told The Associated Press. He used only his call sign, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military. 'I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them,' he said. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw, said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion. 'We are on our land, we have no way out,' he said. 'So we stand our ground, we have no choice.' The Kremlin said that Mr Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Mr Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Mr Xi 'expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis.' Mr Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the US says. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said on X that he also had a call with Mr Putin to speak about the latest Ukraine developments. Mr Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, which the American president says is helping to finance Russia's war. Mr Putin's calls followed his phone conversations with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the Kremlin said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store