Latest news with #Indo-Pakistan
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Govt launches skill training for civil defence volunteers
Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the Indo-Pakistan tensions, state govt on Sunday launched a six-day training programme for civil defence volunteers to hone their skills, preparing them for emergency situations during war-like conditions. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Experts from the (NDRF) imparted training in various areas, including psychological warfare, during the inaugural session. "We have invited experts from various domains for imparting training, whose objective is to enhance the capacity and basic skills of civil defence volunteers enabling them respond effectively to a variety of emergency scenarios," director general (civil defence), Sudhansu Sarangi, said. DIG Uma Shankar Dash said master trainers, who will be trained during the six days, will subsequently conduct training for volunteers across the state. The civil defence wardens are being trained in psychological warfare, covering aspects such as panic management, propaganda identification, rumour control and crowd behaviour. The training programme will encompass essential service maintenance, community drills, evacuation procedures, protection against nuclear, biological and chemical threats, stretcher handling techniques, patient transport, emergency rescue methods, casualty management, debris removal, warning systems and emergency shelter administration. "In the coming days , the volunteers will undergo detailed training on topics such as bomb detection and identification, water purification in emergencies, and food and kitchen hygiene management," Dash said. "The govt's emphasis on strengthening civil defence follows the Centre's directive to all states to enhance their civil defence readiness, following tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack," a govt official said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "New equipment will be purchased from the disaster response fund," he said. CM Mohan Charan Majhi recently called for public participation in the state's civil defence wing as volunteers. He has instructed the extension of civil defence units beyond the current 12 districts into new areas. Official data shows that civil defence volunteer strength has declined from 21,000 ten years ago to just 753 members presently, with 401 based in Bhubaneswar. Unlike govt-recruited firefighters and home guards, individuals can join as civil defence volunteers through an application process.
Canada Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Canada Standard
The Future of Global Priorities: Technology Over Humanity
by Irshad Ahmad Mughal When I was a young trainee as a community development worker, I was told:"Never lose sight of the forest by counting individual trees."This lesson taught me to adopt a holistic perspectivea mindset that now helps me analyze the evolving world order. In the post-Trump era, we witness a new global structure taking shape, defined by emerging alliances, shifting power dynamics, and transformed economic strategies. While Latin America remains relatively stable (with exceptions like Mexico and Panama), turbulence grips the Middle East, Europe, and South Asia. Three major powers are maneuvering to assert dominance in this geopolitical arena, much like players in a high-stakes contest. President Trump shook the world with his tariff policies, attempting to strongarm even traditional allies like Canada and Europe through threats and restrictions. Though he faced resistanceforcing tactical retreats and strategic pivotshe secured significant economic gains from wealthy Gulf states. However, he failed to deliver on his campaign promise of halting the Russia-Ukraine war. His sole diplomatic "win" was brokering a fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a face-saving gesture amid broader setbacks. The Indo-Pakistan conflict unveiled a new era of aerial warfare, reshaping perceptions of military superiority. Pakistans Air Force claimed to have downed Indias "undefeated" Rafale jets using Chinese-made J-10 fighters, sparking debates about Eastern vs. Western technological hegemony. This incident bolstered Chinese and Pakistani confidence while denting Indias global standing. Today, clashes between global powers are intensifying. A new world order is emerging, and with it, a new kind of warfare. Ground forces are becoming obsolete; future conflicts will be decided in the skiesa paradigm shift with far-reaching implications. The emerging world order suggests an unpredictable future where traditional humanitarian concernsliberty, democracy, and equalityare sidelined on the global stage. Instead, international forums now prioritize tariffs, trade wars, drone warfare, artificial intelligence, data dominance, and technological supremacy. Current conflicts and ceasefires foreshadow a grim reality: the battles of tomorrow will not be fought by soldiers on the ground but waged through aerial combat, cyber warfare, and autonomous systems. Human lives may no longer be the primary casualty, but humanity itself risks becoming collateral damage in this new era. As technology races to the forefront of geopolitical strategy, foundational human values are being deprioritized. The question we must confront is this: In a world where algorithms dictate power and machines decide outcomes, what happens to the human condition? About the Author: Irshad Ahmad Mughal is the chairman of the Iraj Education & Development Foundation, based in 82B, New Chaburji Park, Lahore. Pressenza IPA
Mint
4 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Not much for civilian safety in India's evolving military doctrine
India's evolving military doctrine has a significant downside. If any act of terrorism is now considered an act of war, it naturally increases the likelihood of retaliatory and pre-emptive actions from across the border. What follows is a natural corollary. Does India have enough bomb shelters, bunkers, even an underground anti-nuclear refuge, if the going gets worse than it did this month during the Indo-Pakistan 4-day war? With warfare getting increasingly technical and drone-prone, it is not just the international borders, which are unsafe. As evidenced recently, missiles were designed and used to target defence establishments in urban areas. Their range and capabilities have expanded significantly in recent years, allowing them to strike targets deep within enemy territory. Under the circumstances, just how safe are Indian civilians, the soft targets in the larger game? Major General Atul Kaushik (Retd) said in Shimla recently that there is an urgent need to build more bunkers for the people living in border areas. 'People living in border towns and villages often bear the brunt of conflict, particularly in regions like Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and along the Line of Control (LOC),'' the officer said in a statement. He said that towns like Uri, Tangdhar and Poonch were severely affected in the recent cross-border shelling, forcing many civilians to migrate to the hinterland.' On May 6-7, Pakistani shelling in J&K's Poonch and Tangdhar killed 15 and injured 43 after India launched 'Operation Sindoor' in response to the Pahalgam attack, defence officials said. According to the final count, 18 civilians lost their lives in Pakistani shelling and firing during the four-day confrontation. The figures may well be higher. It would also be instructive to remember that firing across the LoC is not a one-off. It could take place anytime, without warning. The civilian casualties highlight a crucial issue - the lack of sufficient bunkers and safe havens for the local population. In cases of cross-border casualties, a compensation scheme of providing a fixed sum of ₹ five lakh to the next of kin has been fixed. Add to it the destruction of property and livestock during these conflicts, which is rarely compensated adequately, leaving families in crisis. According to a government official, the Indian government is actively promoting the construction of bunkers and other shelters in border areas, particularly Jammu and Kashmir, to protect civilian populations from potential threats. This is driven by the need to prevent mass displacement during periods of conflict and to provide immediate safety during shelling or other emergencies. Constructed extensively during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term, these bunkers exist mainly along the LoC and International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir. Designed to protect civilians from mortar fire and infiltration, they reflect a major governmental push to secure border communities. According to media reports, by 2021 nearly 8,000 underground shelters were built across Jammu province. Initially, the Centre approved 14,460 bunkers across five districts — Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Poonch, and Rajouri — and later sanctioned 4,000 more, expanding protection for vulnerable villages. How do these figures compare with the West, where threat perceptions are considerably lower and the populated areas relatively smaller? Countries, like Sweden and Finland, have a significant number of bomb shelters, reflecting their preparedness for potential conflicts. Sweden, for example, is reported to have 64,000 shelter locations with space for up to seven million people. Finland's extensive civil defense system – under the threat of Russian guns along its 1,340 km border - includes over 50,000 shelters with the capacity to house a large portion of its population. The reference Nuclear War Survival Skills declared that, as of 1986, "Switzerland has the best civil defence system, one that already includes blast shelters for over 85 per cent of all its citizens." In 2006, there were about 300,000 shelters built in private residences, institutions and hospitals, as well as 5,100 public places. In comparison, India's civil defence structure, as evidenced recently, belonged to the era of Second World War movies. The central government's decision to conduct exercises across 244 designated civil defence districts to familiarize citizens with war time and emergency protocols on May 7, including sirens and mock drills, could hardly be considered effective in an era of precision, targeted bombing from distances 150 km away. The existence of designated bomb shelters or public safe zones in Indian cities against aerial attacks, are unheard of. Officials say that while some underground metro stations and basements of buildings are being identified as potential safe havens, they were not originally constructed for this purpose. Neither is construction an easy option, given the population density of Indian cities. Sunita Singh, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), a voluntary community health worker, says there is barely enough space to stand in her work place, northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri colony, which makes building a bunker or shelter ``an imaginary idea.' According to the 2011 Census, northeast Delhi is the most densely populated area in the national capital with 37,346 people per sq. km. Included in this district are colonies like Bhajanpura, Gokulpuri, Seelampur, and Shahdara that are bulging at the seams. People living in border towns and villages often bear the brunt of conflict, particularly in regions like Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and along the Line of Control (LOC). Public details of nuclear bunkers or anti-bomb shelters are sparse but VIPs in the government do have protection, which remains a closely guarded secret. The common public, for the time being, must defend themselves, if they can.
News18
7 days ago
- Politics
- News18
'They Defeated Pakistan': When PM Modi Honoured The Brave Women Of Bhuj Who Helped In 1971 War
Last Updated: Back in 1971, it had taken the women of Bhuj only 72 hours to repair the airstrip at the Bhuj airbase after Pakistan bombed it during the Indo-Pakistan war Pakistan has not been able to make its Rahim Yar Khan airbase operational even 17 days after India bombed it on the night of May 9. A NOTAM issued for the airstrip has been extended to June 6. Back in 1971, however, it had taken the women of Bhuj only 72 hours to repair the airstrip at the Bhuj airbase after Pakistan bombed it during the Indo-Pakistan war. So, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the city on Monday, he made it a point to honour these bravehearts – now aged and elderly, but their spirit very much intact. Modi invited these women on stage, and they blessed him and gifted him a sapling. He termed it 'Sindoor', promising to plant it at his official residence. 'Just remember 1971, the brave women who came here, they defeated you (Pakistan). These mothers and sisters, at that time, the runway was prepared in 72 hours, and we resumed the attacks. And today it is my good fortune that the brave mothers of the 1971 war have come and blessed me, not only this, but they have also given me a sapling. Mothers and sisters, this sapling given by you will now be planted in the PM House, this is a Sindoor plant, it will grow into a banyan tree," Modi said. The repair of the Bhuj airbase by these women within 72 hours was a major event during the Indo-Pak war. At least 300 women, most of them village residents, had taken up the onerous task of repairing the airstrip in a display of immense courage. This allowed the Indian Air Force to resume take-off of fighter aircraft from the airbase after the Pakistani attack had left it incapacitated. This was also a turning point that ultimately led India to defeat Pakistan in the 1971 war. 'In Bhuj, I was overwhelmed to receive the blessings of the brave women of Kutch who had displayed amazing courage and determination in the 1971 war with Pakistan," he later wrote on X. भुज में कच्छ की उन वीरांगनाओं का आशीर्वाद पाकर भावविभोर हो गया, जिन्होंने साल 1971 में पाकिस्तान के साथ हुए युद्ध में अद्भुत साहस और संकल्प दिखाया था। — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 26, 2025 One of these women, Kanbai Shivji Hirani, had told journalists earlier this month that Modi will avenge the Pahalgam terror attack. 'It was not possible to build the (Bhuj) runway soon, but we made it possible by rebuilding it, as it was a matter of the country. When we won the war, we were very happy. Today, what Pakistan has done (in Pahalgam) is very wrong. PM Modi should take action on this, stop the water and food supply to Pakistan. The only way they will understand things is to stop it," she had said. These women had desired to meet the Prime Minister when he came to Bhuj on Monday, and he made it a point to honour them and mention their contribution in his speech. 'Pakistan had thought in 1971 that they destroyed our airbase but our sisters did a miracle and showed exemplary courage," he said during his speech. First Published: May 26, 2025, 23:41 IST
Economic Times
25-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
China-Pakistan axis: The dragon-scorpion squeeze
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel In the years that have elapsed since South Asia emerged from the long twilight of British colonialism, the region has been gripped by a persistent instability – neither the disordered anarchy of stateless zones nor the cold equilibrium of an established balance of power, but something more ambiguous: a fluctuating, brittle order, always one crisis away from unraveling. Nowhere is this more evident than in the enduring antagonism between India and Pakistan that has matured into a more protean and perilous confrontation. Yet to view this rivalry in its traditional binary form is to miss the evolution of its real strategic character. As developments since the Pahalgam terror attack have demonstrated, the Indo-Pakistan conflict has not merely persisted; it has been transformed, gradually but inexorably, into a trilateral configuration in which China, once a peripheral observer, now looms as a latent but decisive metamorphosis warrants a more nuanced interrogation. Historically, Pakistan's reliance on foreign backers has been a fixture of its strategic posture. During the Cold War, the United States saw Pakistan as a geopolitical lever against Soviet influence, providing arms, funds, and legitimacy. But where America once sought alignment through ideology, China now pursues influence through infrastructure, arms sales, and algorithmic entanglement. The transition is less a case of old dependencies continuing in new dress than it is of an evolving strategic the latest episode of India-Pakistan conflict shows, the Sino-Pakistani nexus is not just diplomatic; it is operational. The integration of Chinese military platforms into Pakistan's arsenal is a cautionary tale of deeper entanglement. This increasingly seamless military and doctrinal convergence has birthed what one might term the 'dragon-scorpion axis': a symbiotic arrangement wherein the scorpion – Pakistan – delivers the sting through asymmetric terror, while the dragon – China – provides both the venom and the armour. The interoperability of systems, the shared training regimes, and the strategic alignment of objectives are the sinews of this new axis, one that is fast reshaping South Asia's security is a development reminiscent, in structural terms, of Soviet influence over the Warsaw Pact states – though with subtler means and in an age where digital infrastructure and surveillance capabilities amplify the reach of hegemonic ambition. Where the Soviet Union once asserted its dominance through the visible apparatus of military occupation and ideological enforcement, Beijing now extends its reach through dual-use infrastructure projects, arms sales, and economic inducements that come with strings jets, development loans, and digital platforms serve as the modern equivalents of commissars and armored divisions – tools for shaping behaviour, limiting autonomy, and binding Pakistan into a sphere of influence without the formal trappings of empire. The latest agreement to expand the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan underscores this strategy, embedding infrastructure and investment as instruments of geopolitical alignment. By drawing Afghanistan into its orbit, Beijing seeks to create a buffer zone and secure a secondary axis of influence that fortifies Pakistan's strategic posture. This quiet coordination with Pakistan – 'clandestine compact' – functions as a deliberate mechanism of pressure – one aimed at constraining India's strategic bandwidth, shifting the balance of power through the cumulative effect of economic leverage, military entanglement, and narrative reconfiguration renders India's strategic predicament more acute and multidimensional. It is no longer merely a matter of deterring a hostile but inferior neighbour. Rather, India confronts a composite adversary – Pakistan as the immediate provocateur, and China as the hidden architect of escalation. The much-invoked 'two-front' threat seems to have matured into what might more aptly be termed a 'Proxy Pincer': a calibrated architecture of coercion in which Pakistan functions as the overt executor of disruption, while China maneuvers with calculated ambiguity from the flanks – eschewing attribution, yet resolute in shaping outcomes. The geometry of pressure is deliberate, the silence between actions as strategic as the actions herein lies the most insidious development: in a future crisis, the locus of decision-making in Islamabad may be so enmeshed with Chinese strategic imperatives that distinctions between national will and foreign influence become indistinguishable. Pakistan, in effect, has become Beijing's Trigger Finger – an appendage through which China can apply pressure without bearing responsibility, exert force without crossing thresholds, and deny involvement while shaping we confront now is an asymmetrical entanglement, in which China's ability to influence the tempo and tenor of a South Asian crisis enables it to shape outcomes without entering the battlefield. This is not mere ideological alignment; it is the operationalization of a plausible provocation pact – a tacit understanding that escalations can be engineered below the threshold of formal war, while plausible deniability is choreography is most evident in the post-Pahalgam milieu. The ghastly terror attack unfolded not merely as an act of violence, but as a moment of strategic theatre. India's restrained but firm military response was followed by a flurry of international statements – none more telling than those emanating from Washington and Beijing. The United States, ever eager to claim the mantle of crisis manager, framed the ceasefire as a diplomatic victory. Yet this performative diplomacy belied a deeper shift: China's silent choreography behind the scenes. The sudden halt in cross-border drone intrusions, a spate of ambiguous official statements, and the conspicuous tempering of Pakistani belligerence bore the unmistakable imprint of Beijing's strategic choreography. At its core was a calculated reminder: that strategic equilibrium in South Asia no longer hinges solely on Western mediation, but now rests, increasingly, on the tacit acquiescence – and latent leverage – of maneuver – subtle in its blend of opportunism and statecraft – aims to recast the Indo-Pakistan rivalry as a local disturbance to be managed by a disinterested overseer. What emerges is an axis of ambiguity, where power is projected through proxies, where escalation is modulated through influence, and where accountability vanishes into the fog of makes this architecture particularly pernicious is that it seeks to erode India's agency while simultaneously casting China as a stabilizer. The rhetorical inversion is complete: India's self-defense becomes provocation; its deterrence, escalation. The tragic triangle that now defines South Asia – India under constant psychological pressure, Pakistan as a pliable executor, and China as a puppeteer cloaked in neutrality – must be acknowledged for what it is: a strategic is an agonizing clash of values – India's insistence on sovereign equality and transparency pitted against China's preference for hierarchical ambiguity and covert coercion. It is not a contest of force alone, but of narrative and perception, of who gets to define legitimacy in a crowded geopolitical yet, within this fog lies opportunity. India must not merely react to these constraints. It must shape the terrain of engagement. The first imperative is doctrinal: deterrence must be reframed not in terms of punishment alone, but of unpredictability, denial, and disruption. India must build the capacity not only to retaliate, but to pre-empt, confuse, and second imperative lies in diplomacy. India must craft a narrative that extracts it from artificial entanglement that binds its image to Pakistan's provocations. This requires deepening ties with like-minded partners, particularly within the Indo-Pacific, but with a realistic understanding that the West's appetite for justice is often eclipsed by its addiction to does not reward victimhood; it rewards agency. The task before India is not simply to withstand the Dragon-Scorpion axis, but to render it obsolete – through the steady construction of resilience, through alliances that privilege transparency over ambiguity, and through strategic patience informed by long Kaura is Assistant Professor, Department of International Affairs and Security Studies, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Rajasthan
