Latest news with #India-Pak
India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Centre notifies rules for unified command for 3 services amid India-Pak tensions
Centre notifies rules for unified military command across Army, Navy and Air Force amid India-Pak tensionsThis is a developing story. It will be updated.
NDTV
3 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
"Have Decided To Remove 'Terror Thorn' From India": PM Modi's Vow In Gujarat
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted Pakistan over continuing support for cross-border attacks, accusing it of using terrorism as a weapon and "waging war" against India and declaring "we have decided to remove the 'terror thorn' from India". "Terrorism is not a 'proxy war'... it is your strategy. You are waging war on us," Mr Modi said in his home state of Gujarat. The PM pulled no punches in his Gandhinagar rally, throwing criticism also at political rivals - i.e., the Congress, although he did not name the party - who "tolerated proxy wars for 75 years". "For 75 years... tourists, pilgrims, civilians... wherever they (Pak-sponsored terrorists) found a chance, they attacked. Tell me, should we keep tolerating this?" he asked the raucous crowd. "'Ya goli ka jawab gole se dena chahiye' (Or should we respond to bullets with bullets)?" India believes in peace, Mr Modi declared, but will not hesitate to strike back when provoked repeatedly. In that case, he said, "India has to remind the world this is also a land of warriors." The PM"s sharp attacks on Pakistan follow heightened India-Pak tensions after the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, in which 26 civilians were killed. A proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a United Nations-recognised terrorist group operating out of Pakistan claimed responsibility. Islamabad, however, firmly denied any knowledge of Lashkar's presence, despite New Delhi having provided substantial evidence to connect the dots. After a raft of non-military measures, including suspending the critical Indus Waters Treaty that irrigates nearly 80 per cent of Pak's farmlands, India launched Operation Sindoor, a precision military response that destroyed four terror camps in Pak and five in Pak-occupied Kashmir. Op Sindoor was a 25-minute tri-service mission (the first since the India-Pak war of 1971) that began and ended in the early hours of May 7. Ignoring a warning to lay low, Pak fired drones and missiles at Indian armed forces and civilian centres that night. A military conflict raged for the next 100 hours and India responded with more precision strikes, this time targeting Pak air force bases and air defence radars. Eventually Islamabad sued for peace and a ceasefire was announced on May 12. Mr Modi and opposition politicians have praised the Indian armed forces for their response to the Pahalgam terror strike and successfully neutralising Pak's missile attacks. In his speech in Gandhinagar today, the Prime Minister said Op Sindoor had sparked a "wave of patriotism" in the country. "I have been here for two days. Yesterday I visited Vadodara, Dahod, Bhuj, and Ahmedabad... Everywhere it felt like the roaring sound of a saffron sea." "The fluttering tricolour and immense love for the motherland in every heart..." On Monday the PM accused Pak of 'living on hatred for India' and reached out to the people of the country, asking them what decades of conflict with their neighbours had given them. "I want to ask the people of Pakistan... what have you gained from terrorism? ... free Pakistan of this disease of terrorism. 'Sukh chain ki zindagi jio, roti khao. Varna meri goli to hai...'," he said, which translates as 'live a peaceful life, eat your bread, else my bullets are there'.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
India and Pakistan's drone battles mark new arms race in Asia
A little after 8:00 pm on May 8, red flares streaked through the night sky over the northern Indian city of Jammu as its air-defence systems opened fire on drones from neighbouring Pakistan . The Indian and Pakistani militaries have deployed high-end fighter jets, conventional missiles and artillery during decades of clashes, but the four days of fighting in May marked the first time New Delhi and Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles at scale against each other. The fighting halted after the U.S. announced it brokered a ceasefire but the South Asian powers, which spent more than $96 billion on defence last year, are now locked in a drones arms race, according to Reuters' interviews with 15 people, including security officials, industry executives and analysts in the two countries. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dental Implant Khula Sadar Cost Might Be More Affordable Than Ever! Dental implant | Search Ads Learn More Undo Also Read: New Delhi refutes Trump's claim on trade threat over India-Pak de-escalation Two of them said they expect increased use of UAVs by the nuclear-armed neighbours because small-scale drone attacks can strike targets without risking personnel or provoking uncontrollable escalation. Live Events India plans to invest heavily in local industry and could spend as much as $470 million on UAVs over the next 12 to 24 months, roughly three times pre-conflict levels, said Smit Shah of Drone Federation India, which represents over 550 companies and regularly interacts with the government. The previously unreported forecast, which came as India this month approved roughly $4.6 billion in emergency military procurement funds, was corroborated by two other industry executives. The Indian military plans to use some of that additional funding on combat and surveillance drones, according to two Indian officials familiar with the matter. Defence procurement in India tends to involve years of bureaucratic processes but officials are now calling drone makers in for trials and demonstrations at an unprecedented pace, said Vishal Saxena, a vice president at Indian UAV firm ideaForge Technology. The Pakistan Air Force , meanwhile, is pushing to acquire more UAVs as it seeks to avoid risking its high-end aircraft, said a Pakistani source familiar with the matter. Pakistan and India both deployed cutting-edge generation 4.5 fighter jets during the latest clashes but cash-strapped Islamabad only has about 20 high-end Chinese-made J-10 fighters compared to the three dozen Rafales that Delhi can muster. Pakistan is likely to build on existing relationships to intensify collaboration with China and Turkey to advance domestic drone research and production capabilities, said Oishee Majumdar of defence intelligence firm Janes. Islamabad is relying on a collaboration between Pakistan's National Aerospace Science and Technology Park and Turkish defence contractor Baykar that locally assembles the YIHA-III drone, the Pakistani source said, adding a unit could be produced domestically in between two to three days. Pakistan's military declined to respond to Reuters' questions. The Indian defence ministry and Baykar did not return requests for comment. India and Pakistan "appear to view drone strikes as a way to apply military pressure without immediately provoking large-scale escalation," said King's College London political scientist Walter Ladwig III. "UAVs allow leaders to demonstrate resolve, achieve visible effects, and manage domestic expectations - all without exposing expensive aircraft or pilots to danger," he added. But such skirmishes are not entirely risk-free, and Ladwig noted that countries could also send UAVs to attack contested or densely populated areas where they might not previously have used manned platforms. DRONE SWARMS AND VINTAGE GUNS The fighting in May, which was the fiercest in this century between the neighbours, came after an April 22 militant attack in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists. Delhi blamed the killings on "terrorists" backed by Islamabad, which denied the charge. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed revenge and Delhi on May 7 launched air strikes on what it described as "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan. The next night, Pakistan sent hordes of drones along a 1,700-kilometer (772-mile) front with India, with between 300 and 400 of them pushing in along 36 locations to probe Indian air defences, Indian officials have said. Pakistan depended on Turkish-origin YIHA-III and Asisguard Songar drones, as well as the Shahpar-II UAV produced domestically by the state-owned Global Industrial & Defence Solutions conglomerate, according to two Pakistani sources. But much of this drone deployment was cut down by Cold War-era Indian anti-aircraft guns that were rigged to modern military radar and communication networks developed by state-run Bharat Electronics, according to two Indian officials. A Pakistan source denied that large numbers of its drones were shot down on May 8, but India did not appear to sustain significant damage from that drone raid. India's use of the anti-aircraft guns, which had not been designed for anti-drone-warfare, turned out to be surprisingly effective, said retired Indian Brig. Anshuman Narang, now an UAV expert at Delhi's Centre for Joint Warfare Studies. "Ten times better than what I'd expected," he said. India also sent Israeli HAROP, Polish WARMATE and domestically-produced UAVs into Pakistani airspace, according to one Indian and two Pakistan sources. Some of them were also used for precision attacks on what two Indian officials described as military and militant infrastructure. The two Pakistani security sources confirmed that India deployed a large number of the HAROPs - a long-range loitering munition drone manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries . Such UAVs, also known as suicide drones, stay over a target before crashing down and detonating on impact. Pakistan set up decoy radars in some areas to draw in the HAROPs, or waited for their flight time to come towards its end, so that they fell below 3,000 feet and could be shot down, a third Pakistani source said. Both sides claim to have notched victories in their use of UAVs. India successfully targeted infrastructure within Pakistan with minimal risk to personnel or major platforms, said KCL's Ladwig. For Pakistan's military, which claimed to have struck Indian defence facilities with UAVs, drone attacks allow it to signal action while drawing less international scrutiny than conventional methods, he noted. CHEAP BUT WITH AN ACHILLES HEEL Despite the loss of many drones, both sides are doubling down. "We're talking about relatively cheap technology," said Washington-based South Asia expert Michael Kugelman. "And while UAVs don't have the shock and awe effect of missiles and fighter jets, they can still convey a sense of power and purpose for those that launch them." Indian defence planners are likely to expand domestic development of loitering munitions UAVs, according to an Indian security source and Sameer Joshi of Indian UAV maker NewSpace, which is deepening its research and development on such drones. "Their ability to loiter, evade detection, and strike with precision marked a shift toward high-value, low-cost warfare with mass produced drones," said Joshi, whose firm supplies the Indian military. And firms like ideaForge, which has supplied over 2,000 UAVs to the Indian security forces, are also investing on enhancing the ability of its drones to be less vulnerable to electronic warfare, said Saxena. Another vulnerability that is harder to address is the Indian drone program's reliance on hard-to-replace components from China, an established military partner of Pakistan, four Indian dronemakers and officials said. India continues to depend on China-made magnets and lithium for UAV batteries, said Drone Federation India's Shah. "Weaponization of the supply chain is also an issue," said ideaForge's Saxena on the possibility of Beijing shutting the tap on components in certain situations. For instance, Chinese restrictions on the sale of drones and components to Ukraine have weakened Kyiv's ability to produce critical combat drones, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank. A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that Beijing has always implemented export controls on dual-use items in accordance with domestic laws and regulations as well as its international obligations. "Diversification of supply chain is a medium to long term problem," said Shah. "You can't solve it in short term."
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Vandita Mishra writes: As the military dust settles
Dear Express Reader, Over a month after the terror strike in Pahalgam, and a little over two weeks after the India-Pakistan ceasefire, politics is still slowed down. The imperative of projecting unity against an enemy that can target holidaymakers in a Valley meadow and make a whole nation grieve, has had a flattening effect on adversarial politics. But as the military dust settles, a stark landscape is being bared. It features a government enhancing its brimming arsenal, a struggling Opposition facing a sharpening challenge, and few softening or leavening forces. Before terror struck, the Congress-led Opposition had returned to the backfoot because of the BJP's successive assembly election victories in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi. After making a dent in the BJP's tally on the 2024 Lok Sabha scoreboard, constituents of the INDIA bloc suddenly seemed to show no will to live together again, or at least, going by the resentments expressed by smaller allies openly, not under Congress leadership. There was a brief moment when these parties set aside their differences, to break through their hesitations and ambivalences on a question that involves the Muslim minority — that was in Parliament, on the waqf bill. But the moment remained a blip. Now, going ahead, the Opposition's challenge will be to confront a BJP that is trying to wrest from it the 'social justice' plank after announcing the caste census, when, at the same time, the flaring of India-Pak hostilities is set to further shrink the Opposition's space at home, or at least make it much more difficult for it to move and manoeuvre. On the matter of the caste census, the BJP has made Congress's bad predicament worse. While Rahul Gandhi made the demand for a caste census most insistently in the last couple of years, he faced a credibility issue even while he was making it. As a party, on the ground, Congress has been much slower to Mandalise itself than the BJP — in state after state, you can count more backward caste leaders in the BJP. While it can be said that the BJP's OBC leaders, like other BJP leaders, have decreasing clout in a party that has centralised all power in the time of Narendra Modi, Congress lags behind even on a token representation test. Across states, a Congress under a walled-off high command has seemed frozen in comparison to its main opponent that, with RSS help, seems to be constantly moving and spreading — Congress has not seen the rise of an identifiable set of new grassroots leaders in decades. In Madhya Pradesh, for instance, where Congress has just launched what it calls its most extensive organisational restructuring exercise in decades, which aims to introduce a new tier of committees at panchayat and ward level, it also needs to ask itself this: Why is it that, over the years, it has not managed to produce OBC leaders to match Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, Shivraj Chouhan of the BJP? MP is a state where no single OBC caste is numerically dominant, like the Yadavs in Bihar and UP, which could form the nucleus around which a challenge to upper caste dominance could coalesce. And yet, when an election comes in MP, the BJP at least lines up its individual OBC leaders behind Modi, while Congress fights for the OBC vote on terms set by the BJP — by flaunting a me-too Hindutva, showcased by its leaders' hectic temple-hopping, or by trying to outbid the BJP on its cash transfer schemes. Rahul Gandhi's demand for a caste census has remained unsupported by a larger agenda or programme of social justice that his party owns or participates in. On India-Pakistan and Operation Sindoor, Congress faces another difficult problem — it needs to find the language in which it can frame the questions that need to be asked of the government, starting with what went wrong in the Modi-led Centre's story of a terror-mukt, post-Article 370 Naya Kashmir. It will need to find the words that can hold the government accountable, while side-stepping its attempts to trap and corner it. Indications are that the Modi government will not hesitate to leverage the military Operation within the country. Even before Pahalgam, 'pro-Pakistan' and 'anti-national' were being used as labels to taint and subdue political opponents. Now, the arrest of Ashoka University professor, Ali Khan Mahmudabad for online posts — Supreme Court has given him a grudging interim bail since — has sent out a chilling message. It speaks of a disturbing ease-of-criminalisation of criticism and free speech. The government warns against 'politicisation' of Operation Sindoor, even as the ruling party organises and participates in Tiranga yatras across states. In any case, for all its exhortations that 'national security' is above partisan politics, and the two should never meet, the BJP has unabashedly used one for the other — after Balakot, 'Pakistan ko ghar mein ghus ke maara (we entered Pakistan and hit it)' has become a staple of the election campaign of the BJP. It draws into the domestic point-scoring, air-brushed and context-free photo-ops and freeze-frames of foreign and security policy. By including Opposition leaders in all-party delegations to foreign capitals after Operation Sindoor, the BJP has done two things simultaneously. To the world, it has projected a united front, and domestically, it has magnified the difficulties for the Opposition party — now it must join hands with the government, while it is still figuring out the best way of opposing it. The row over the government's selection of Opposition leaders, inviting accusations from Congress and TMC that it had not consulted the party — TMC managed to replace the government's nominee with its own while Congress had no such luck, with only one of its list of four making it to the final delegations — underlined the fact that government and Opposition don't talk to each other, there is little to-and-fro, a near absence of civility. This depleted landscape was not created by Pahalgam. But Pahalgam becomes a sombre milestone in it. Till next week, Vandita
Time of India
7 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
India will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally, there should be no confusion in any quarter in that regard: S Jaishankar
— DrSJaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 'India-Pak ceasefire not via international mediation Live Events Operation Sindoor and the April 22 attack No external broker, despite US claims (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that India will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally, adding that India has zero-tolerance for terrorism and it will never give in to nuclear blackmail "India will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally, there should be no confusion in any quarter in that regard," Jaishankar said during a press conference in Germany. The minister also said that Germany understood that every nation has right to defend itself against a post on X, Jaishankar said he met German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and "exchanged views on issues from our immediate neighborhood to global concerns and challenges".Jaishankar is in Berlin in the concluding leg of his three-nation tour to the Netherlands, Denmark, and Jaishankar had stated that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was achieved through direct military communication between the two countries, not via international mediation.'The cessation of firing and military action was something which was negotiated directly between India and Pakistan,' Jaishankar said in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS. 'We made one thing very clear to everybody who spoke to us, not just the United States, but to everyone, saying look, if the Pakistani want to stop the firing, they need to tell us. We need to hear it from them, their general has to call our general and say this, and that is what happened.'On 10 May, a hotline call from the Pakistani military signalled their intent to stop hostilities. India responded acknowledged that while countries like the US, Gulf nations, and others expressed concern and spoke to both sides, the final agreement to end hostilities was made between India and Pakistan flared after a terror attack on 22 April in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, claimed 26 civilian lives. In response, India launched 'Operation Sindoor' in the early hours of 7 May. The operation targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. According to Indian military sources, over 100 militants linked to groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen were retaliated with shelling along the Line of Control and attempted drone incursions. India answered with strikes on radar systems, airfields, and communication centres in Pakistan. These escalations culminated in India launching a decisive air campaign on 10 May, striking eight Pakistani India and Pakistan reached an understanding to end hostilities on 10 May, former US President Donald Trump claimed that he brokered the ceasefire."If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India, we settled that whole thing, and I think I settled it through trade. We're doing a big deal with India. We're doing a big deal with Pakistan,' Trump said at a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Trump had posted on his platform, Truth Social: 'After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.'India rebutted the claims. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that the ceasefire understanding was strictly bilateral.'Our longstanding national position is that any issues pertaining to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed,' the MEA also noted that 'the issue of trade did not come up in any discussions between Indian and U.S. leaders' from the start of Operation Sindoor to the ceasefire on 10 May.
