India-Pak conflict LIVE | Pakistan: Will respond to any 'aggression' from India
Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said Pakistan is a responsible state and remains committed to the ceasefire and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (May 16) said Operation Sindoor was a reflection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's firm determination, pin-pointed intelligence gathering by various agencies and infallible fire power of Indian armed forces. He said this after inaugurating a new multi-agency centre in Delhi for intelligence sharing among various agencies.
Shah said Operation Sindoor reflected Modi's firm determination, the pinpointed intelligence gathering by various agencies, and the infallible firepower of our Armed Forces.
The multi-agency centre, under the Intelligence Bureau, was created in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks with an aim to share timely inputs among various stakeholders involved in law enforcement.
What Rajnath Singh said
As India and Pakistan inch closer to achieving normalcy at the borders following an aggressive military clash in the wake of India's Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the killing of 26 people by terrorists in Pahalgam, the prime minister of the latter country has said that he is ready to engage in dialogue with New Delhi for the sake of "peace."
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made the statement during his visit to the Kamra air base in the country's Punjab province on Thursday (May 15), where he interacted with officers and soldiers involved in the recent military confrontation with India.
On Wednesday, Sharif visited Pasrur Cantonment in Sialkot where he interacted with the soldiers and officers present.
Conditions for peace
"We are ready to talk with it (India) for peace,” he said. He, however, stressed that the "conditions for peace" include discussions on the Kashmir issue.
Sharif was accompanied to the airbase by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Army Chief General Asim Munir, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu.
This was the Sharif's second visit to a defence facility following the understanding reached between India and Pakistan on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
Operation Sindoor
India has maintained since Independence that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh "are and always will be integral and inalienable parts of India".
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 where 26 people were brutally murdered, India launched a retaliatory mission, 'Operation Sindoor' on May 6 and 7 (Tuesday and Wednesday), wiping out several terror camps and infrastructure with precision strikes.
Indian armed forces targeted terror sites specific to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) among others in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing over 100 terrorists.
Counterattack
Pakistan then attempted to attack several Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10.
The Indian armed forces launched a fierce counter-attack on several Pakistani military installations, including Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian. Several indigenous technologies and defence systems were used to ensure minimal damage from the Pakistani attack.
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- 16 May 2025 5:48 PM IST
BJP trying to gain political mileage from Operation Sindoor : Congress
Accusing the government of adopting "double standards", the Congress said on Friday that on one hand, it is taking the initiative of sending multi-party delegations abroad and on the other, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reportedly meet only NDA chief Ministers next week to take "political mileage" from Operation Sindoor.
The opposition party's attack on the government came after it asserted that it would definitely be a part of the delegations.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The PM has called for a meeting of ONLY NDA Chief Ministers on May 25th to take political mileage from Operation Sindoor. But he now wants MPs from all parties to go abroad as a delegation for explaining India's stance on terrorism from Pakistan." The diplomatic initiative is badly needed but why these "double standards", he asked.
In an earlier post on the microblogging platform, Ramesh pointed out that the prime minister did not chair two all-party meetings on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
"The Prime Minister has not agreed to call a special session of Parliament that the Indian National Congress has been demanding to demonstrate a collective will and reiterate the resolution passed unanimously by Parliament on February 22, 1994," he said.
The prime minister and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been defaming the Congress continuously even as it has called for unity and solidarity, he added.
"Now suddenly the PM has decided to send multi-party delegations abroad to explain India's stand on terrorism from Pakistan. The Indian National Congress always takes a position in the supreme national interest and never politicises national security issues like the BJP does. Hence, the INC will definitely be a part of these delegations," the Congress general secretary said.
- 16 May 2025 5:23 PM IST
Congress slams BJP over MP Deputy CM's offensive remarks on Army
The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of "insulting the Army" after Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda allegedly made objectionable comments on the forces and demanded his sacking.
Speaking at an event, Devda allegedly said, "We would like to thank the prime minister. The entire country, the country's army and those soldiers bow at the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji... for the befitting response he gave." The remarks came days after Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah came under fire for his alleged objectionable remarks on Col Sofiya Qureshi, who was a prominent face of the armed forces during media briefings on Operation Sindoor along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "The constant insult of our army by BJP leaders is extremely shameful and unfortunate. First a minister of Madhya Pradesh made an indecent comment on women soldiers and now their Deputy Chief Minister has grossly insulted the army." The people of the entire country are proud of the valour of the army but the BJP people are "insulting" the army and instead of taking action against these leaders, the BJP is trying its best to save them, she alleged.
"What message does BJP want to give to our army and people of the country by doing this?" she said.
At a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate played a video of Devda's remarks and asked whether anyone can imagine any Indian ever saying something as "blasphemous and brazenly shameless" as that.
"The entire country is grateful for what our armed forces have done. They have consistently taught a lesson to our enemies. Our armed forces have divided Pakistan into two. We have always given a befitting reply in 1965, 1971, 1999, and even after the Pahalgam terror strike. Our armed forces brought Pakistan to its knees by consistently destroying terrorist camps in Pakistan," she said.
Such a statement is a brazen violation of what this country feels for our armed forces, which is absolute respect, Shrinate said.
- 16 May 2025 5:14 PM IST
Defence stocks continue upward trend
Shares of defence-related firms, including those of drone manufacturers, makers of missiles and allied equipment, surged on Friday in continuation to their ongoing winning run.
The stock of Paras Defence and Space Technologies zoomed 18.90 per cent, Data Patterns rallied 9.25 per cent, Astra Microwave Products surged 7.10 per cent, Hindustan Aeronautics jumped 5.40 per cent, Mishra Dhatu Nigam soared 4.63 per cent, Bharat Electronics climbed 3.87 per cent and Bharat Dynamics went up by 1.95 per cent on the BSE.
Shares of drone manufacturer Droneacharya Aerial Innovations climbed 2 per cent.
In the equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 200.15 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at 82,330.59. The NSE Nifty dropped 42.30 points or 0.17 per cent to 25,019.80.
Defence stocks ended higher on Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, and last Friday as well.
Shares of defence-related firms have been in focus since India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to destroy terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives.
- 16 May 2025 4:37 PM IST
Celebi stocks plunge after India withdraws security clearance
The shares of Celebi Hava Servisi AS nosedived in the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Thursday following India’s decision to withdraw security clearance for the Turkey-based firm’s Indian unit Celebi Airport Services India, say media reports.
The decision to withdraw security clearance was declared by India's Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Wednesday, with immediate effect, based on national security concerns.
On May 16, the company’s shares showed a downward trend by dropping 222 points (10%).
The Centre’s decision came in the wake of the revelation that Pakistan was using Turkish-made drones to target civilian and military infrastructure in India.
- 16 May 2025 4:16 PM IST
Kashmir: Six terrorists killed in three days: Army
Security forces turned the focus of their anti-terror operations to specific south Kashmir areas in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam attack and eliminated six terrorists in the last three days, officials said on Friday.
"The security agencies reviewed their strategy according to the situation in the wake of terror activities in the last one month and our intensified focus was on operations," V K Birdi, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, said.
The IGP was addressing a press conference with General Officer Commanding, Victor Force, Major General Dhananjay Joshi and CRPF Inspector General Mitesh Jain at the headquarters of the Victor Force here in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.
Birdi said due to the intensified focus of various security agencies and the coordination between them, two successful operations were conducted and six terrorists killed in the last three days. He termed the elimination of the ultras "significant achievements".
"These successful operations were possible because of the coordination and synergy among the security and intelligence agencies. We are duty-bound to end any terror activity in Kashmir and we are always ready to stop such acts," the IGP said.
The encounters took place in the Keller area of Shopian and Nadar area of Tral in Pulwama on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
Three terrorists each were killed in the two operations.
Major Joshi said immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives, the security forces designated several areas as focus areas.
"We had intelligence inputs that terrorists had moved to the higher reaches after the melting of the snow. Keeping that in mind, our domination parties were continuously deployed in the higher reaches, mountainous areas and forests," he said.
The security agencies received an intelligence input about the presence of terrorists in the Keller area on the night of May 12, Major Joshi said.
"So the domination party that was deployed there for some time relocated itself and in a focused way, closed in on the area. They challenged the terrorists who fired at them, leading to an encounter in which three terrorists were neutralised," he said.
About the Tral encounter, the GoC said the operation took place on a different terrain.
"We had inputs and cordoned off the village. The terrorists took positions in different houses and fired at us. Our challenge was the safe evacuation of the innocent civilians, including children. Then, systematically, searches were conducted one by one in the houses and three terrorists neutralised at separate places," he added.
Major Joshi asserted that the successful conduct of both operations shows that the security forces will find terrorists wherever they are and neutralise them.
Of the six slain terrorists, the most prominent was Shahid Kuttay, who was involved in major attacks, including one on a sarpanch in Shopian's Heerpora on May 18 last year and a firing incident at the Danish Resort on April 8 last year, in which two German tourists and a driver were injured, the officer said.
"Kuttay was also involved in fundraising and other activities," he added.
The neutralisation of both the modules has dealt a blow to terror outfits and will help stop their activities here, Major Joshi said.
