Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ignited another controversy on Tuesday with a sharp jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While addressing a rally in Bhopal, Rahul Gandhi said, US President Donald Trump rang up Modi and told him, “Narendra, surrender” and the PM complied. Rahul Gandhi went on to say that BJP-RSS people have this habit of surrendering whenever they are pushed to a corner.
Already Pakistani media is using clips of Rahul and his party leaders to sell the narrative that opposition parties in India are themselves questioning the success of Operation Sindoor. Rahul Gandhi is occupying constitutional post, he should have been careful with the choice of words.
No harm in asking questions. Nothing wrong in demanding a special session of Parliament. But exactly what are the leaders of opposition looking for? Are they going to listen to the tales of valour of our armed forces, Or will they pose themselves as heroes by questioning Prime Minister Modi? They will be telling Parliament that Modi “surrendered” to Trump, his diplomacy failed and India stands isolated in the world. These leaders will praise the armed forces, but will insult the leader who gave the army a free hand to deal with the enemy.
The question is, whether this will help India in the long run? Will these questions boost the morale of our jawans and officers ?
As far as “surrendering” at the behest of Trump is concerned, our Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, our army, our External Affairs Minister and our Prime Minister said the same thing that it was Pakistan army’s DGMO who initiated the move by requesting his Indian counterpart for cessation of hostilities.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor explained the difference between mediation and facilitation. Salman Khursheed said that India didn’t permit and will never allow a third country to mediate. But Rahul Gandhi and his party leaders are unwilling to listen to Shashi Tharoor or Salman Khursheed. Both Tharoor and Khursheed have worked as External Affairs Ministers during Congress regime. They know the nitty-gritty of foreign policy, but their remarks do not suit Rahul Gandhi.
How Pakistan folded up in 8 hours instead of 48 hours
In his special lecture on “Future Wars and Warfare” organised by the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies of Savitribai Phule Pune University, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan revealed, “On the 10th of May, at about 1am, its (Pakistan’s) aim was to get India to its knees in 48 hours. Multiple attacks were launched and… They escalated this conflict…we actually hit only terror targets, but (Pakistan) also (got) into the military domain. From their perspective it would have been rational, in the sense, they would have said you used military means to hit these (terror) targets. But it was also rational on their part that operations, which they thought would continue for 48 hours, folded up in about 8 hours…Then they picked up the telephone and said they wanted to talk.”
Gen Chauhan said, “The decision to fold up operations in eight hours may have stemmed from two things. One, they must have assumed that if they continued, they were likely to lose much more. Hence, they picked up the telephone. And the second thing is that since they had stuck us at multiple fronts, they still did not have the benefit of understanding what they had stuck…So they must have thought that they must have struck and hence it’s time to talk. If they didn’t, they would lose more.”
On Tuesday, an analysis made by the Indian Air Force revealed that, six Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, two high value aircraft, over 10 UCAVs(unmanned combat aerial vehicle), one C-130 transport aircraft along with multiple cruise missiles were destroyed by Indian air-launched cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles. One US made C-130 Hercules transport aircraft costs $165 million (Rs 1400 crore). The UCAVs were Pakistan’s counter drones that were destroyed. The world has already seen how Indian missiles destroyed 11 Pakistani air bases.
Gen Chauhan said, wars today are not only being fought on land, sea and air, but also in space, cyber and electromagnetic fields. He said, earlier battles used to be fought within a range of five to 10 km, now the sphere has extended far. Almost the whole of Pakistan has come within strike range of our weapons and we have displayed our capability of pinpoint strikes at locations 600 km away from our border.
Pakistan on tenterhooks about next Indian action
Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto, leading a delegation of MPs to the US, has circulated a dossier in which it has been alleged that Indian armed forces carried out strikes in all its provinces except Balochistan. Bilawal Bhutto said, while India has claimed to have hit only 20 locations, the reality is that 28 locations were attacked by IAF. The dossier says, Indian drone strikes took place in Attock, Bahawalnagar, Gujrat, Jhang (Punjab), Peshawar (Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa), Chhor and Hyderabad (Sindh).
Speaking to member states of OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Bilawal Bhutto said, despite a ceasefire, Pakistan is living in a less secure world because of conflict between two nuclear powers.
Bilawal Bhutto is saying what he has been told to speak by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The ground reality is that Pakistan is still reeling from the severity of air strikes undertaken by India.
The latest satellite image of Bholari air base shows the air strip and hangar covered with tarpaulin and repair work going on. Pakistan is fearing another attack from India and it is for this reason that it has sent its parliamentary delegation to meet leaders of different countries. Bilawal Bhutto said, Pakistan is facing severe crisis after India suspended Indus Waters Treaty.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has told a Pakistani news channel that he apprehends a more severe Indian attack on Pakistan in the coming days.
After going through the Pakistani dossier and the disclosures made by our CDS Gen Anil Chauhan, five points are clear:
One, Pakistani army suffered more losses than what was disclosed by Indian army during the conflict.
Two, entire Pakistan is now within the range of our weapons.
Three, Indian army is far ahead of Pakistan in new age warfare that involves drones, electronic data, sensors, hypersonic missiles.
Four, it was the Pakistan army’s Director General of Military Operations who phoned Indian army DGMO and requested for a halt to firing and military action, but India did not take the decision in a hurry. After much deliberations, Operation Sindoor was halted and there was no question of American pressure on India.
Five, Pakistan had to fight an information war after the four-day conflict and it used remarks made by some Indian political leaders to suit its own ends.