Defence minister denies India bowed to pressure to end fighting with Pakistan
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was speaking at the opening of a discussion in parliament on the April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir in which 26 men were killed.
The attack led to a fierce, four-day military conflict with Pakistan in May, the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbours in nearly three decades.
"India halted its operation because all the political and military objectives studied before and during the conflict had been fully achieved," Singh said.
"To suggest that the operation was called off under pressure is baseless and entirely incorrect," he said.
Singh's comments came as the Indian Army said that it had killed three men in an intense gun battle in Indian Kashmir on Monday.
Indian TV channels said the men were suspected to be behind the April attack. Reuters could not immediately verify the information.
The Kashmir attack was the worst assault on civilians in the country since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. New Delhi said Pakistani nationals were involved in the killings and blamed Islamabad for backing them. Pakistan denied involvement and sought an independent investigation.
In the latest conflict, the two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and other munitions, killing dozens of people, before Trump announced they had agreed to a ceasefire.
Pakistan thanked Trump for brokering the agreement but India said Washington had no hand in it and that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed between themselves to end the fighting.
Indian opposition groups have questioned what they say is the intelligence failure behind the Kashmir attack and the government's inability to capture the assailants - issues they are expected to raise during the parliament discussion.
They have also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coming under pressure from Trump and agreeing to end the fighting, along with reports that Indian jets were shot down during the fighting.
Pakistan claimed it downed five Indian planes in combat, and India's highest ranking general told Reuters that India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the heart of the hostility between old rivals India and Pakistan, both of whom claim the region in full but rule it in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.
India accuses Pakistan of helping Islamist separatists in its part of Kashmir, but Pakistan denies this and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy praises Trump for trimming Putin deadline by about 25 days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Donald Trump showed a 'clear stance and expressed determination' after the US president said he would cut the 50-day deadline he set for Russia to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Trump on Monday set a new but still imprecise deadline of '10 or 12 days from today' for Russia to make progress towards peace or face consequences. Trump's previous deadlines to end the war have included 'one day … 24 hours' and 'about two weeks … within two weeks' as well as '50 days'. Two weeks had already passed since Trump threatened to act within 50 days, leaving 36 days remaining of the original deadline. The new ultimatum of '10 or 12 days' means the US president has given Putin about 25 fewer days to deliberate. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in talking directly to Putin. 'If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,' Trump said. 'I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people.' Zelenskyy said: 'I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war … Russia pays attention to sanctions, pays attention to such losses.' The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after an established pro-Ukraine hacking group said it had carried out a cyber-attack. Dan Milmo reports how departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays. Irate passengers vented their anger on social media. One wrote: 'I've been sitting at the Volgograd airport since 3:30! The flight has been rescheduled for the third time!' Another posted: 'The call centre is unavailable, the website is unavailable, the app is unavailable.' A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation with a Belarusian group called Cyber Partisans, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. 'Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!' said the statement. Silent Crow said the cyber-attack was the result of a year-long operation that had deeply penetrated Aeroflot's network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing 'the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot'. Pjotr Sauer meanwhile reports how tens of thousands of passengers have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt Russian airspace. The systematic Ukrainian campaigns aims to bring the war home to ordinary Russians, many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Pjotr Sauer writes that Ukrainian civilians live under the constant threat of being killed by missiles and drones, and Ukrainian officials have emphasised that life in Russia should not be comfortable for 'a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. The tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public and a growing source of frustration.' Blackouts took place in parts of Russian-occupied Donetsk during a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, according to reports. The electricity distributor Donetskenergo said three substations were hit, leaving about 160,000 customers without power. The independent Russian-run Astra Telegram channel said the Donbas Palace Hotel in Donetsk city was also hit. Ukraine's Sumy region came under Russian attack on Monday into Tuesday evening, local officials reported. A man, 45, was injured by a drone while taking a cow out to pasture in the Krasnopil community, said Oleg Grigorov, head of the Sumy regional administration. A man, 66, was injured when his apartment was shelled. 'At around 5.45pm, the Russians attacked the Burynska community with four attack UAVs. The strike destroyed a local store,' Grigorov said. 'One of the saleswomen was injured – she was promptly provided with medical assistance and her life is not in danger. Damage was also recorded to residential buildings, a cultural centre, non-residential premises and cars.' The US-German defence company Auterion will provide 33,000 artificial intelligence guidance kits for Ukrainian drones funded by a $50m Pentagon contract. According to the company, the kits enable manually piloted strike drones to autonomously track and hit targets up to a kilometre away – one way of circumventing electronic jamming that can cut a drone off from its operator. 'We have previously shipped thousands of our AI strike systems to Ukraine, but this new deployment increases our support more than tenfold,' said the CEO of Auterion, Lorenz Meier.
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Von der Leyen ducks Trump's trade blitz – but deal exposes EU's faultlines
There is no doubt that Ursula von der Leyen was under intense pressure on Sunday when she sat next to Donald Trump in the ballroom at his Turnberry golf course before what EU officials knew would be a gruelling round of trade talks. As the European Commission president emerged less than an hour later to announce that the worst of Trump's tariff threats had been avoided, the recriminations from inside the EU began almost immediately. Under the deal agreed in Scotland, an economically devastating trade war has been prevented. Still, European leaders are eyeing up the cost to the bloc from being locked in to tariffs of 15% on most EU exports to the US, when they had previously averaged 4.8%. French and German leaders, following in the footsteps of Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, focused on this outcome, rather than the potential damage that could have been inflicted by a US president with an intense dislike for the EU. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, was among leaders who thought Trump's threatened 30% rate could at least be lowered to match the 10% tariff deal secured by the UK. He said the EU had capitulated and described Sunday as a 'dark day'. The irony of one leader beset by factional warring berating another for failing to present a united front to the US was lost on Bayrou. There were many in Brussels who thought he might have taken a more emollient tone given that parliamentary infighting has prevented him from passing a long-delayed budget bill. And especially when Paris is often the cause of friction inside the EU's Brussels headquarters. On this occasion, Bayrou objected to the EU threat of tariffs on US bourbon, fearing that French wine and brandy producers might be caught in the crossfire. Some insiders asked how the commission president could go nose-to-nose with Trump when the EU was, and remains, divided, with member states seeking carve-outs for their own vulnerable industries. Von der Leyen can also say that most of the trade concessions, including a commitment to buy a large quantity of gas from US producers, matter little when the purchases were likely to be made anyway. She is also hopeful that the deal can circumvent Trump's obsession with the US pharmaceutical industry. The sector has been left out of all trade deals so far, which means no one yet knows what US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports will be. Ireland is especially fearful after accumulating much of the US offshore pharma industry in County Cork. Brussels is hopeful that 15% will also be the tariff on EU-based pharma exports to the US. David Henig, the director of the UK trade policy project at the European Centre for International Political Economy, said the result of Trump's actions would probably hit trade and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, but only marginally. 'Nobody wins, there are unlikely to be big trade shifts, but the world keeps turning,' he said. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion HSBC economists said the 15% tariff would be offset by a reduction in uncertainty hitting businesses that had been weighing heavily on trade, leaving the EU to face 'a fairly marginal impact'. There is also much left to negotiate on a deal, which at present is more like an impressionist painting than a clearcut photograph. As the summer turns to autumn, von der Leyen must hope the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, refuse to join Bayrou in criticising the deal for fear of handing Trump even more negotiating power in the detailed phase. The obvious weakness in the EU's negotiating position may have the opposite effect by encouraging more leaders to consider changes put forward by the former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, who estimated that internal trade barriers within the bloc amount to almost 50% on goods and 110% on services. Draghi's call for a collective endeavour on both investment and regulation is the best blueprint for leaders who know that pursuing sectional national interests is economically and socially illiterate. The problem is that von der Leyen's trade fudge – minimising the impact of Trump's threats – will allow the EU to continue muddling through, and leave Draghi's report to gather more dust.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Starmer to convene urgent Cabinet meeting on Gaza to set out pathway to peace
The Prime Minister will call senior ministers in during the summer recess for the meeting on Gaza on Tuesday afternoon, the PA news agency understands. Sir Keir shared plans he is working on with France and Germany to 'bring about a lasting peace' with US President Donald Trump when they met in Scotland, Downing Street said. And he plans to share details with Arab states and other key allies in the coming days. Sir Keir is facing mounting calls to recognise Palestinian statehood immediately. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'This week, the Prime Minister is focused on a pathway to peace to ensure immediate relief for those on the ground, and a sustainable route to a two-state solution. 'We are clear that the recognition of the Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if, but it must be one of the steps on the path to a two-state solution as part of a wider plan that delivers lasting security for both Palestinians and Israelis.' Amid international alarm over starvation in Gaza, Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery. The UK confirmed it was taking part in airdrops of aid into the territory. Aid agencies have welcomed the new measures but said they were not enough to counter the rising hunger in the Palestinian territory. Sir Keir said that the British public is 'revolted' at the scenes of desperation in Gaza as he appeared alongside Mr Trump at his Turnberry golf course on Monday. 'It's a humanitarian crisis, it's an absolute catastrophe. 'Nobody wants to see that. I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screens, so we've got to get to that ceasefire.' The US president hinted at sticking points in US-led negotiations over a peace deal, saying Palestinian militant group Hamas had become 'very difficult to deal with' in recent weeks. He suggested this was because they only held a small remaining number of Israeli hostages. Sir Keir has likened the plan he is working on with France and Germany to the coalition of the willing, the international effort to support Ukraine towards a lasting peace. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the plan would build 'on the collaboration to date that paves the way to a long-term solution on security in the region'. Sir Keir is meanwhile facing calls from a growing number of MPs to recognise a Palestinian state immediately. More than 250 cross-party MPs have now signed a letter calling for ministers to take the step, up from 221 on Friday. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Monday dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of Government over when to recognise a Palestinian state, saying 'we all want it to happen'. Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action, calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise', while Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'.
