As India struck terror targets inside Pakistan and PoK, T-72 tanks, BMP-2 armoured vehicles moved up to LoC
Referring to the Poonch Brigade's engagement in the 'intense and continous operations during Operation Sindoor to blunt and respond to the unprovoked aggression by Pakistan across the Line of Control', Commander Poonch Brigade, Brig Mudit Mahajan, said, 'To that extent, Poonch Brigade was not a part but the heart of Operation Sindoor. We did not wait to react; we prepared to respond.'
Official sources said that while targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, the Indian Army also moved its T-72 tanks and BMP-2 armoured personnel carriers up to the Line of Control as a preemptive move. Sources said the tanks targeted Pakistani posts that were facilitating the infiltration of terrorists into J&K.
The Pahalgam terror attack was met with a 'calibrated response' from the Indian Army, initially focusing solely on terrorist infrastructure, Brig Mahajan said, adding, 'The Army struck with unmatched precision and purpose – six of nine critical terrorist targets struck were opposite Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor and these were neutralised effectively that night.'
'Only when the Pakistan Army escalated by indiscriminately targeting civilian areas did the Indian Army decisively shift to hitting their military assets,' he said.
'As the enemy unleashed a new threat of drone swarms, it was the Indian Army's air defence that truly emerged as the shining shield — demonstrating exceptional skill, resilience, and cutting-edge coordination to intercept every aerial menace,' he said.
'The Pakistani Army losses were not just in numbers but in morale and initiative,' he said. 'So far, we have inputs of imposing heavy numbers in fatal and non-fatal casualties upon the enemy.'
Pointing out that Operation Sindoor is not over but only remains suspended for the time being, he said that the Indian Army 'remains alert and ready, and if challenged again, we will respond yet again not with words but fire and resolve of the nation.'
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Mint
11 minutes ago
- Mint
From China+1 to India+1: Jolted manufacturers look for business beyond the US
A toy factory floor on the outskirts of Bengaluru is alive with motion and noise. Long rows of assembly lines hum steadily, carrying half-finished cars, dolls, and animal figurines from one station to the next. Workers in safety vests and blue, maroon, and black uniforms move quickly but with practiced rhythm. Some workers spray plastic toy parts in various colours to meet stringent client requirements, while their colleagues fix wheels to trucks. Mountains of cartons are stacked at the edge of the factory floor, ready to be shipped to American buyers ahead of the holiday season. With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, the third quarter is the busiest time of the year. The sense of urgency and excitement on the factory floor contrasts with the gloom in the back office of Propelus Manufacturing, which is offering steep discounts to its American clientele after US President Donald Trump threatened a 50% tariff rate on imports from India. 'Our 2025 orders…the clients will take, but we have to cut rates. We have to support them. Only then they may come back. Clients are hunting for countries with the lowest tariff," said Anshu Arya, who set up this factory post-pandemic, spotting an opportunity in the US pivot from China's factory floor. 'But our 2026 orders of $1.5 million have been halted." 25% tariffs are already in effect. Secondary sanctions, in the form of additional 25% tariffs for India's purchase of Russian oil, are set to kick in on 27 August. Trump may eventually decide against pressing ahead with the additional tariff, but it has already spooked buyers in the US. Even if withdrawn, the new diplomatic reality may make them more cautious about sourcing from India, especially as bilateral relations have soured—close ties with Washington were a key selling point for Indian manufacturers. And even at 25%, India's tariff would remain five percentage points higher than that of its closest competitor, Vietnam. Propelus's LinkedIn page calls it 'A real alternative to China right now." 65% of its revenue is generated from the export market, with the US accounting for 90% of it. 'I was at home that evening. I immediately started getting calls after the US tariff announcement came in. Clients were calling to put orders on hold. Everybody has to save their business. There is nothing I can do, I just have to oblige," said Arya. Case of unfinished shoes The US is the largest consumer market in the world despite being home to only 4% of the world's population. According to Deutsche Bank, it accounts for almost 30% of global consumption. US private consumption is about $19 trillion annually, according to research platform Microtrends, making it the most lucrative and sought-after export market. Labour-intensive manufacturing exports in apparel, textiles, footwear, furniture, toys and gems and jewellery are likely to be the most impacted by US tariffs. The industry functions on thin margins and employs a huge chunk of the manufacturing workforce in the country. According to Crisil, last fiscal, the US accounted for about 20% of India's merchandise exports. About 2,000 kilometres away from Bengaluru, in Agra, Legwork, a footwear contract manufacturer, has seen new US orders dry up. Exports make 60% of sales at Legwork. 'Earlier, sales agents were giving us hope that with China+1, we will get lots of orders. Even Chinese manufacturers were enquiring. Now everything has unravelled," said owner Vijay Nainani. Last year, Legwork shipped a massive order of 300,000 shoes for Costco, a retailer in the US. Without sharing names, he said many in the industry have started shipping unfinished shoes to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, and are tying up with manufacturers there to finish up the final product so as to hide the country of origin and escape US tariffs on India. Raghunandan Saraf, chief executive at Rajasthan-based Saraf Furniture, calls the current uncertainty 'tougher than a bad situation." His top export markets are in Europe, with the US making up for small volumes. Exports make up 55% of total sales. Now, some buyers from the European Union (EU) have also slowed down orders because of global uncertainty and the tariff wars—a double whammy for Indian manufacturers. 'We are seeing a slowdown in orders from the EU," said Saraf. 'Our buyers are apprehensive right now about believing their own forecast. Our importers give us a sales forecast for the next six months, based on which we build our inventory. Right now, they are not confident because of tariffs and wars." Saraf has slowed down production in his factories to avoid a buildup of unsold inventory. 'Give it to Bangladesh' The anguish and anxiety felt by Arya, Saraf, and Nainani are not restricted to small and mid-scale manufacturers in the country. Raymond Ltd, one of India's top textile and apparel manufacturers and exporters, is negotiating the price hit from the tariff fallout with its US clients. 'We are right now dealing with a US customer for whom the fabric is ready in India. He said, take the fabric, give it to Bangladesh, and get it stitched to a simple garment there, and pay only 20% duty. It can be made available before Thanksgiving. For other complicated garments like suits, he has no option but to continue with us," said Amit Agarwal, Raymond's chief financial officer. Agarwal said Raymond might consider ramping up production in its Ethiopia factory for the US market. Ethiopia faces only a 10% tariff. He is not alone in considering a diversification of production outside India as a call of last resort. Godrej Interio, which exports office furniture, is also considering increasing production from its factories in Oman and Vietnam—countries with lower tariffs than India at present. The US has imposed a 10% tariff on Oman and 20% on Vietnam. 'We have manufacturing presence in countries beyond India. We are exploring producing more from these locations. It is a thought in the back of our mind," said Swapneel Nagarkar, executive vice president and business head at Godrej Interio. The 'India+1' plan Alexandra Hermann, an economist with Oxford Economics, is concerned about the impact on India's attractiveness as a manufacturing hub if 50% tariffs were to continue. 'India's appeal as a production and investment alternative to China is shrinking as compared to the already-bigger manufacturing hubs in the rest of Asia, and, in fact, we hear that Indian and global manufacturers are starting to think about 'India+1' strategies now," she said. 'India + 1' means that companies primarily serving the US market will start thinking about moving out of India. India's labour-intensive manufacturing exports have already struggled to compete on the world stage. According to the World Bank, countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, and even advanced economies such as Germany and the Netherlands, have become the primary beneficiaries of China's shrinking market share in low-skill manufacturing. The data shows India's share in global exports of apparel, leather, textiles and footwear (ALTF) initially grew from 0.9% in 2002 to a peak of 4.5% in 2013, but it subsequently declined to 3.5% in 2022. In contrast, Vietnam's share has increased to 5.9% and Bangladesh reached 5.1% of global ALTF exports in 2022. India's rigid labour laws, lack of supply chain ecosystem, and high import duties on critical raw materials have kept the cost of production higher than in other Asian economies. Adding punitive tariffs, such as those imposed by the US, makes it close to impossible for India to compete for US orders. Abhishek Ganguly, co-founder of footwear manufacturer Agilitas Sports, said the industry struggles with the lack of raw material supply chain and needs to import top-quality machinery and shoe components from China, among other countries. 'In this industry, seasonality is a big factor, so speed to manufacture and to market is an important success metric. Global brands say India will never be timeline-wise as fast as Vietnam and China," said Ganguly. He is focusing on making in India for the domestic market. In the past decade itself, countries like Vietnam effectively utilized their cost-competitive labour and created a business-friendly environment conducive to manufacturing. The small country has raced ahead due to its first-mover advantage, proximity to China, a strong network of 16 free trade agreements across the globe, enabling investment laws, and simpler labour laws that make scaling factories quicker. In comparison, India's labour-intensive manufacturing is highly fragmented, consisting of small and unscalable factories. They find it difficult to compete in the global market and rely mainly on domestic demand to survive. Battle in a sabzi market The US' pivot from China was a golden opportunity for India to claw some share back. The gap left by the potential retreat of the US, according to manufacturers, won't be an easy one to fill with alternative foreign markets or domestic demand. 'If you don't have the biggest consumer market in the world, how will you become a global leader in manufacturing? Price efficiency only happens with scale, and that can only happen if we make for the US," said Arya. According to Arya's professional experience, American consumers spend up to ₹2,300 on a single toy purchase versus ₹1,800 in the EU and only ₹500 in India. On a per capita basis, India's domestic market is relatively small compared to global markets. According to the Federation of Economic Development, India's domestic clothing market was valued at $55 billion in 2019, whereas the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries collectively imported clothing worth $380 billion—nearly seven times the size of the Indian market. 'Export orders come in bulk and make our lives easier. For Costco, we had to make 300,000 pairs in one design, and it was very easy to make. We bought raw material in bulk at cheap prices. For Indian brands, the order sizes are like 600 pairs, and they fight with us on price like it is a sabzi (vegetable) market," said Legwork's Nainani. Labour-intensive exports are the launchpad for any country aspiring to become a global manufacturing hub. All Asian countries, including China and South Korea, used labour-intensive manufacturing exports to start their factory revolution before moving up the value chain. 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Market development, forming business relationships, and being chosen as a preferred supplier is hard," said Rohit Kumar, founding partner, Quantum Hub, a New Delhi-based public policy consulting firm. Experts believe that India's Free Trade Agreement with the UK provides an excellent template for India to start opening up its economy to the developed world in a graded manner and start competing on the global stage more aggressively. In July, India and the UK sealed a trade deal eliminating tariffs on products ranging from cars to alcohol. Due to the agreement, Indian goods, including textiles, jewellery, agricultural products, and engineering goods, would get better access in the UK market. 'Opening the economy is a need of the hour. You are the 4th largest economy in the world, and if you don't integrate with the global economy, you will suffer," said Vivek Mishra, deputy director of Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation. 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First Post
13 minutes ago
- First Post
India-China ties: Tactical easing or strategic thaw? Wang Yi in Delhi for talks on border and bilateral issues
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in New Delhi on a three-day tour for boundary talks. Despite a visible thaw in the frosty bilateral ties, experts say the India-China relationship remains far from normal as Beijing's campaign against New Delhi has not shown any sign of slowing down. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be holding a range of meetings on his three-day visit beginning Monday. Wang will hold bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, join National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in the 24th round of boundary talks, and also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the latter's China visit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting next month. There is unlikely to be any breakthrough in the boundary talks. It has been a long-winding talks between the negotiators of the two countries. Wang is visiting India for the 24th round of the Special Representative (SR) talks on the India-China boundary question with NSA Doval, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Wang and Doval are the SRs of China and India respectively to address the question of the undemarcated boundary of the two countries. Meanwhile, experts Firstpost spoke to warn against hyping the recent bilateral visits and China's remarks on the US tariffs announced recently by President Donald Trump. They say the India-China relationship remains far from normal as China's anti-India campaign shows no sign of stopping. In recent weeks, developments like the resumption of the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra, the resumption of visas to Chinese tourists, and the resumption of direct flights between the two countries, have produced commentary that the India-China ties are on an upward trajectory. As these developments came at a time when India-US relations nosedived, commentators said that India and China have not just improved their ties but have been forming a bloc to take on the United States. But experts say India and China don't seem to be working on forming a bloc to counter the US. The resumption of Kailash yatra and visa indicate a tactical easing, not a strategic thaw, as these are low-cost gestures for China that help project an image of normalisation, says Eerishika Pankaj, a scholar of China and the Director of Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA). 'However, these steps do not address persistent strategic antagonisms, most notably the boundary disputes, trade imbalances, and underlying mistrust that continue to define the India-China relationship. To call these developments a 'partnership' would be misleading. What we are witnessing is more transactional than transformative,' says Pankaj. Chinese opposition to India rules out any alignment Beyond such headline-making developments, the fact remains that China continues to undermine India at every step and that rules out any India-China alignment. Consider these: China has continued to block rare earth supplies to India even as it has resumed supplies to other countries, it has also blocked the supply of speciality fertilisers to India, and has reportedly blocked Chinese engineers from working in mobile factories in India in a bid to stop Indian factories ramping up domestic manufacturing. Besides, China continues to support Pakistan in its anti-India campaign despite taking an official stand of opposing terrorism in all forms. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Steps like resumption of visas and flights are largely for optics. China's continued economic and strategic coercion, including blocking critical imports and standing firmly with Pakistan, shows the structural antagonism remains. These actions reinforce that the underlying relationship remains tense and structurally adversarial. While optics might offer temporary diplomatic cover, they do not dilute the entrenched mistrust or competition at play,' Pankaj tells Firstpost. ALSO READ: LAC patrolling may be back to pre-2020 level, but India-China ties are headed to new normal Such Chinese antagonism means that suggestions that India could align with China to revive the 'RIC' platform to tackle Trump's tariffs seem a little far-fetched. Though the India-US relationship has taken a hit, Pankaj says the RIC format 'simply does not align with India's current strategic priorities, particularly given growing divergence with both Russia and China on key issues'. Pankaj further says, 'There is scant evidence of substantive momentum for RIC's revival beyond rhetorical or social media expressions. For India, meaningful partnership within RIC remains, at best, a peripheral tool — not a central strategy for growth or security. Beyond diplomatic dialogue or regional advocacy, there is no credible economic output from meaningful revival.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Where are India-China ties headed to? While there has been progress in India-China ties, such as the last year's partial resolution of the Ladakh standoff and the resumption of political engagement at the top level, the India-China relationship remains uneasy and complex. The Chinese support to Pakistan during the post-Pahalgam four-day military has been duly noted by Indian government. Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh, the deputy army chief, called China the backdoor adversary in the conflict. It was not just Chinese warplanes, missiles, and air defence systems that were stacked against India, Singh said that China was providing real-time intelligence to Pakistan. The situation was such that even though the conflict was limited to one border, India was facing three adversaries — Pakistan, China, and Turkey. In such circumstances, the India-China ties in the near future will likely exhibit managed hostility, which will involve selective engagement on low-risk fronts with persistent barriers in security, trade, and diplomatic spheres, says Pankaj, the Director of ORCA. Can developments, such as Trump's anti-India campaign, bring India and China closer? Pankaj says that unpredictability injected by Trump 'could add volatility but are unlikely to upend the fundamental nature of rivalry and the bilateral framework will potentially remain defined by both tactical engagement and the hard realities of unresolved disputes'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD ALSO READ: As Xi & Putin join hands, what does 'no limits' friendship mean for India? The differences between India and China are simply too many for the two nations to come on the same platform irrespective of Trump's tariff war. Moreover, Trump is barely an irritant to China as he has essentially admitted defeat in the trade war. In fact, with 50 per cent tariffs on India, attempted meddling in the Kashmir issue, and undermining India on Operation Sindoor, Trump could actually be benefitting China. His other actions, such as withdrawal from global institutions, and the suspension of the foreign aid, have also aided China. Many in China see this as an opportunity to deepen its global footprints and dominance, with experts suggesting that Beijing has no immediate incentive to join hands with India to launch a joint pushback against Trump. Instead of an alignment with China, India is recalibrating its engagement strategies, placing greater emphasis on autonomous diplomatic and security networks while maintaining avenues for Quad-style collaboration, recognising that US involvement may oscillate with political cycles, according to Pankaj. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As Trump shakes the reliability of the United States as a long-term ally, Pankaj says India should join hands with the likes of Japan and Australia, with whom India already has robust bilateral and trilateral frameworks independent of US sponsorship, and double-down on diversified arrangements in the Indo-Pacific. India for long has pitched its foreign policy on the principle of strategic autonomy. New Delhi is likely to continue as Trump pushes the world to realignment and China waits to exploit new opportunities emerging from this realignment.
The Hindu
13 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Rupee rises 23 paise to close at 87.36 against U.S. dollar
The rupee appreciated 23 paise to close at 87.36 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Monday (August 18, 2025), supported by strong domestic equities. Forex traders said the Indian rupee traded on the positive territory on the GST reforms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommended in his August 15 address to the nation. Forex traders said the uncertainty over trade tariffs issue between India and the U.S. is likely to keep market participants cautious. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 87.46 against the U.S. dollar, and touched an intraday low of 87.48 and a high of 87.33 and settled at 87.36 (provisional), registering a gain of 23 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee settled lower by 12 paise at 87.59 against the U.S. dollar. Forex and equity markets were closed on Friday on account of Independence Day. PM Modi on Sunday said the Centre has circulated the draft of the next-generation GST reforms among states and sought their cooperation to implement the proposal before Diwali. He said the reform in GST would benefit poor and middle-class people, as well as small and big businesses. The present GST tax rates of nil/zero on essential food items, 5 per cent on daily use products, 12% on standard goods, 18% on electronics and services and 28% on luxury and sin goods will be replaced by two tax slabs of 5% and 18%, plus a special 40% top bracket for 5-7 demerit goods. The proposed two-slab regime, if approved by the GST Council, will replace the current four slabs in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, doing away with the 12% and 28% slabs. Meanwhile, Brent crude prices rose 0.70% to $66.31 per barrel in futures trade. Investors will monitor Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments at Jackson Hole this week for clues on the path of interest rate cuts in its next meeting in September, traders said. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.14% to 97.98. On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 676.09 points to settle at 81,273.75, while the Nifty surged 245.65 points to 24,876.95. Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth ₹1,926.76 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. On the domestic macroeconomic front, S&P on Thursday upgraded India's sovereign credit rating to 'BBB' with a stable outlook after over 18 years, citing robust economic growth, political commitment for fiscal consolidation and 'conducive' monetary policy to check inflation. The impact of U.S. tariffs on the Indian economy will be "manageable", S&P said, adding that a 50% tariff on U.S. exports (if imposed) will not pose a "material drag" on growth.
