Pakistan's Shocking Threat To Modi Govt; ‘Will Flood Dams With Bodies Of Indians'
Pakistan's war rhetoric has taken a dangerous turn as Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, President of the Nissan Etihad Council, issued a chilling threat following India's move on Indus waters. In an explosive statement, he declared, 'If India taps even a single drop of Indus water, we will flood our dams with the bodies of Indians.' The comment comes amid soaring tensions after the Pahalgam terror attack. India, still reeling from the April 22 carnage, has vowed a befitting response. Watch.
Read More
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
35 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
Slighted by Trump, India must rejig foreign policy paradigm
Indians were shocked by US President Donald Trump asking American CEOs and industrialists to not base their manufacturing facilities in India. Trump reportedly told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he does not want him to manufacture iPhones in India. He threatened Apple with 25% tariffs if they did so. This is not the first time that Trump directed major industry leaders not to manufacture in India. Earlier, in February, he had told Elon Musk not to set up a Tesla factory in India as that would be 'unfair' to the US. This directive came just after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the US President and the Tesla CEO on February 13 with the hope that Tesla would build in India. These provocative actions have sorely disappointed Indians who were expecting to be beneficiaries of Trump's benevolence as US companies moved out of China. In addition, Indians were shocked at the way illegal migrants from the country were degraded, criminalised and transported back to India in fetters on a military aircraft. And now, Indian students are not getting visas or their visas are being cancelled disrupting their studies at US universities. Indians recovering from shock Trump's comeback electoral win of November 2024 was welcomed in India as he was seen by the establishment virtually as 'Our man in Washington'. This perception was bolstered by the hyped chemistry between him and Modi. However, public opinion has started shifting in the opposite direction. Trump's core foreign policy objectives rest on trade, tariffs, transactions and targets. He chose to target India as a ' very high tariff nation ' in his very first address to the joint session of the US Congress on March 7 when he implied that India imposed the most unfair tariffs on the US. Trump called India a 'tariff king' and a 'big abuser'. The US trade deficit of US$100 billion with India irked Trump. Now, he is pushing for an almost zero tariff on US goods, especially cars – now that Tesla is ready to enter the Indian market. However, Trump wants the opening of markets for free and easy entry of US goods – irrespective of whether they are in demand in India or not; for example, he seeks to replace Scotch with American bourbon whiskey. The US is targeting both China and India. Others in the Global South are likely to be targeted next. Trump's 'Make America Great Again' policy seems to be about cutting the bottom out of any potential manufacturing adversary. Trump equates India and Pakistan As if the economic hit was not hard enough, the Trump team has gone after India's strategic interests in the light of the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22, which India believes was Pakistan-sponsored, and the Indian retribution that followed. Trump called the terror attack a 'bad one', without naming Pakistan, but turned it into an even-handed India-Pakistan conflict, stating incorrectly that the two had been ' fighting for 1,500 years '. As usual, Trump put the focus on himself as he said he was 'close to both countries', and the two would ' figure it out one way or another ', distancing himself from any special relation with India that Indian strategic analysts used to boast about. As India carried out military strikes against Pakistan, named Operation Sindoor, the US Presidential team reiterated 'good relations with both' countries and Trump said that if he could 'help I will be there'. In the two days of the military operations that followed, the US Secretary of State repeatedly said that they were speaking to both sides, which subsequently agreed to an immediate ceasefire and start talks. He claimed that the ' US stopped nuclear conflict '. Trump further said he would 'soon' give trade access to India-Pakistan, a claim that the US Commerce Secretary put on record. India took pains to claim that while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did speak to Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the military operation was halted after the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations asked for a halt; ie, the ceasefire was reached bilaterally. India upset with US Why did India feel slighted by the alleged US role? The US hyphenated India-Pakistan, something that India does not like. It has sought to de-hyphenate itself with Pakistan by improving relations with the US for years. India perhaps also saw the US infantilising both countries with its rhetoric that only a politically mature US could stop the two squabbling neighbours. US claims also demonstrated its ability to intervene in South Asian affairs and underlined that the US remains a hegemon in this region. India also saw in the US statements a challenge to its strategic autonomy. It was seen by India as siding with Pakistan's nuclear blackmail and threat, as it helped demonstrate that the US had saved the world from a possible nuclear escalation. Lastly and most importantly, by pointing to Kashmir as the root cause of the war, the US was seen as internationalising an issue that India sees as an internal issue. It is quite possible that now, US think tanks will do their bit to showcase the US role and heighten this agenda. What India needs to do What can India conclude about the US behaviour? First, that the US has no permanent friends or enemies – only permanent interests. Second, that the US has a hub and spokes policy towards all – the US is the central hub and all other countries are spokes of different sizes that the US can manipulate and manage. Third, that the US military-industrial technology complex will seek to derive the greatest benefits from both countries and across the region. India will, therefore, have to rejig both its thinking and paradigm in foreign policy at the global, regional and bilateral levels as also in its domestic debates. India must also be wary of US interests drowning Indian interests – the US has always been a predatory power and embeds itself in regional conflicts and gains from these. India has been committed to multi-polarity, BRICS and other such forums and should stick with and enhance this. India must continue with self-reliance and its traditional time-tested partners. It also needs to curb the domestic war rhetoric as that does not help the interest of peace or show India as a sane voice of the Global South.
Time of India
37 minutes ago
- Time of India
Ongoing plot to add voters in states going to polls: TMC's Kunal Ghosh supports Rahul Gandhi's claims
Following Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's allegations that Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was "rigged" and the same will be repeated in Bihar, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had caught the rigging in West Bengal and there is an ongoing plot to add voters from other states to the state going to polls. Kunal Ghosh said, "The voter list had several irregularities. Mamata ji caught this in Bengal. Voters of other states were added to Bengal's voter list. When this happened in Maharashtra, at the time of election, it was the responsibility of the Opposition there to catch this. But they could not identify it at that time. This happened in Delhi. But in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and TMC identified this, and we protested. We told the Election Commission about this. This was a plot. We had been making these allegations for much longer. Mamata ji was the first in the country to protest against this. There is an ongoing plot to add voters from other states to this one." He further said that the TMC party is scrutinising voters' list on booth level by visiting every houses. "The survey is going on. Following the process of the Election Commission, whatever is required to check the voters' list legally, we are doing it," he added. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was "rigged", and claimed that the same will be repeated in Bihar assembly polls due later this year. Live Events In a post on X, Gandhi shared his article published in a newspaper, explaining the "rigging" in the Maharashtra assembly polls." Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy. My article shows how this happened, step by step," Gandhi said on X. The former Congress President explained a five-point process. He said that step one includes rigging the panel that appoints the Election Commission, followed by adding fake voters to the electoral roll. He further claimed that the next steps include inflating the voter turnout, targeting the bogus voting exactly where the BJP needs to win and hiding the evidence. "Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election Commission; Step 2: Add fake voters to the roll; Step 3: Inflate voter turnout; Step 4: Target the bogus voting exactly where the BJP needs to win; Step 5: Hide the evidence," Gandhi said. He further labelled rigging as "match-fixing", saying that the side cheats might win the game but damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result. "It's not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra. But rigging is like match-fixing, the side that cheats might win the game, but will damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers," the Rae Bareli MP said. Gandhi warned that the "match-fixing" of Maharashtra would come to Bihar next, where the polls are due later this year, and then "anywhere" the BJP was losing elections. "Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy," he added.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Instead of finding excuses, it is time for introspection,' Chirag Paswan slams Rahul Gandhi on poll rigging claims
Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Saturday took a dig at Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his recent tweet alleging poll rigging in the Maharashtra Assembly elections . Paswan dismissed the claims, stating that the Congress is resorting to excuses in anticipation of defeat in the upcoming elections. "Now they are looking for excuses because they are going to lose the next election. They know that they are going to lose the Bihar assembly elections ... Till now, they were blaming EVMs... Now they have found a new excuse... After independence, you remained in power for 55 years, and today, if the public is rejecting you, then instead of finding excuses, it is time for introspection," he said. On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Maharashtra assembly election held in November 2024 was "rigged", and claimed that the same will be repeated in Bihar assembly polls due later this year. In a post on X, Gandhi shared his article published in a newspaper, explaining the "rigging" in the Maharashtra assembly polls. Live Events "Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy. My article shows how this happened, step by step," Gandhi said on X. The former Congress President explained a five-point process. He said that step one includes rigging the panel that appoints the Election Commission, followed by adding fake voters to the electoral roll. He further claimed that the next steps include inflating the voter turnout, targeting the bogus voting exactly where the BJP needs to win and hiding the evidence. "Step 1: Rig the panel for appointing the Election Commission; Step 2: Add fake voters to the roll; Step 3: Inflate voter turnout; Step 4: Target the bogus voting exactly where BJP needs to win; Step 5: Hide the evidence," Gandhi said. He further labelled rigging as "match-fixing", saying that the side cheats might win the game but damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result. "It's not hard to see why the BJP was so desperate in Maharashtra. But rigging is like match-fixing; the side that cheats might win the game, but will damage institutions and destroy public faith in the result. All concerned Indians must see the evidence. Judge for themselves. Demand answers," the Rae Bareli MP said. Gandhi warned that the "match-fixing" of Maharashtra would come to Bihar next, where the polls are due later this year, and then "anywhere" the BJP was losing elections. "Match-fixed elections are a poison for any democracy," he added. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
