Huma Qureshi Encounters BSF Women Wing, Jawans At India-Pakistan Border In J&Ks RS Pura
Jammu: Bollywood actor Huma Qureshi reached the India-Pakistan border in RS Pura. She interacted with BSF jawans, BSF women wing, and affected families at the International Border after Operation Sindoor.
While talking to the media, she said, "I thank the tourism department. I was here to encourage our BSF jawans, Army Jawans, and women soldiers. We are proud of our soldiers, and I thank the BSF and Army for their sacrifice. The fact is that I came here to raise the morale of our BSF jawans, army soldiers, and our women soldiers. But you all have given me so much love, and I realised once again how lucky we are that you are protecting us on our borders."
Whatever happened recently made us realise how our defence forces are protecting us. Let the world see love and peace, which truly defines J-K. Peace is the spirit of J-K and India. I appeal to all in India not to let hate win, and I appeal to the people of India to come to J-K," she added.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the elimination of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Operation Sindoor, initiated on May 7, showcased a calibrated, tri-services response that embodied precision, professionalism, and purpose.Operation Sindoor was conceived as a punitive and targeted campaign to dismantle the terror infrastructure across the Line of Control and deeper inside Pakistan, as per the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting press release.Multi-agency intelligence provided confirmation of nine major camps that were eventually targeted in the operation.
India's retaliatory action was based on meticulous planning and an intelligence-led approach, which ensured that the operations were conducted with minimal collateral damage.Operational ethics were central to the mission, and restraint was exercised to avoid civilian harm, as per the press release. In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Pakistan initiated a series of retaliatory drone and UCAV attacks targeting key Indian airbases and logistics infrastructure.
These attempts, however, were effectively neutralised by India's comprehensive and multi-layered air defence architecture. Central to this success was the Integrated Command and Control Strategy (ICCS), which facilitated real-time threat identification, assessment, and interception across multiple domains.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
Pakistan will go to war if India denies water under IWT, says Bilawal Bhutto
Pakistan's former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said his country will go to war if India denies Islamabad its fair share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). India put in abeyance the 1960 agreement soon after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 people. Home Minister Amit Shah last week announced to never restore the historic accord. Bilawal's comments came two days after Pakistan's Foreign Ministry criticised Shah's "brazen disregard" for international agreements. Bilawal, in a speech in parliament, rejected the Indian decision to suspend the agreement and threatened to get Pakistan's share of water. "India has two options: share water fairly, or we will deliver water to us from all six rivers," he said referring to the six rivers of the Indus basin. Live Events He said that the IWT was still in vogue as the agreement cannot be held in abeyance. "The attack on Sindhu (Indus River) and India's claim that the IWT has ended and it's in abeyance. Firstly, this is illegal, as the IWT is not in abeyance, it is binding on Pakistan and India, but the threat itself of stopping water is illegal according to the UN charter," he said. Bilawal, who is head of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), also threatened that if India decides to follow through on the threat, "we will have to wage war again". The former foreign minister also highlighted the importance of talks and cooperation, especially in counterterrorism efforts. "If India and Pakistan refuse to talk, and if there is no coordination on terrorism, then violence will only intensify in both countries," he said. Bilawal also accused India of "weaponising terrorism for political purposes". He claimed that during his diplomatic visits to the UK and European nations as foreign minister, it was evident that India had lobbied hard to reverse Pakistan's progress on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) front. "At a time when Pakistan had successfully moved from the FATF grey list to the white list, India made every effort to drag us back to the grey list using false narratives and diplomatic pressure," he claimed. Bilawal also said that Pakistan succeeded in raising the issue of Kashmir on the world stage and President Donald Trump had spoken in favour of mediation on Kashmir. Apart from immediate steps such as putting the IWT in abeyance and stopping all trade with Pakistan, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Remembering Emergency: When India banned Coke and brewed nationalism in a bottle called Double Seven
HighlightsIn 1977, following the end of the Emergency and the fall of nearly three decades of Congress rule, the newly elected Janata Party government launched Double Seven, India's first government-backed cola, as a symbol of economic self-reliance and political change. The introduction of Double Seven was spearheaded by George Fernandes, the then Industry Minister, who expelled Coca-Cola from India due to its refusal to comply with local equity regulations, leading to the development of the indigenous beverage by Modern Food Industries. Despite a grand launch and the tagline 'The Taste that Tingles', Double Seven failed to capture the public's interest, facing stiff competition from established brands, and ultimately faded from the market after Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980. In the summer of 1977, just after the 21-month Emergency ended and India turned the page on nearly three decades of uninterrupted Congress rule, a new political force was not the only thing bubbling to the surface. The newly elected Janata Party government had shown the door to Coca-Cola and unveiled its own fizzy response -- Double Seven. The country's first "sarkari cola" was launched as a symbol of economic self-reliance and political change. Named after the landmark year that brought the Morarji Desai-led Janata coalition to power, Double Seven was more than a beverage; it was a political statement in a bottle. The indigenous cola had an elaborate launch at the annual trade fair at Pragati Maidan. The Double Seven cola , popularly known as "Satattar" (77 in Hindi) was manufactured and marketed by the makers of Modern breads - Modern Food Industries - a government-owned company. Interestingly, then MP H V Kamath was also awarded a cash prize for coming up with the name "77". Although "77" was not ready for sale until 1978, the name was chosen because 1977 was the year of big changes in India -- such as the end of the Indira Gandhi government and Coca-Cola. At the helm of affairs in the cola episode was then Industry Minister George Fernandes, who decided to throw Coke as well as IBM out of India over their refusal to follow the provisions of what was then the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Rahul Ramagundam wrote in Fernandes' biography "Life and Times of George Fernandes" that the provision stipulated that foreign companies should dilute their equity stake in their Indian associates to 60 per cent. Fernandes wanted Coca-Cola Company to not just transfer 60 per cent of the shares of its Indian firm but also the formula for its concentrate to Indian shareholders. The company said it was agreeable to transferring a majority of the shares but not the formula, which it contended was a trade secret. The company exited the Indian market as the government denied a licence to import the Coke concentrate. Fernandes then introduced the indigenous drink "77". The government asked the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru to develop the formula. Sold with the tagline "The Taste that Tingles", the cola did not strike the same chord with the public as Coca-Cola, amid tough competition from brands like Campa Cola, Thums Up, and Duke. "I remember the launch of Double Seven at the annual trade fair at Pragati Maidan, a proud gift from the Janata Party, an indigenous drink supposedly superior than Coca-Cola and a stark reminder of Indira Gandhi's humiliating defeat in the recent general elections," author Sunil Lala says in his book "American Khichdi", published in 2009. Tata McGraw Hill's book "Advertising Management: Concepts and Cases" also mentions Double Seven as an example of government branding and "swadeshi" marketing gone awry. Hill cited the launch of Double Seven as a business school case study in government-backed branding, highlighting the campaign's missteps and beverage-market context of the late 1970s. The end of Double Seven, not so surprisingly, coincided with Indira Gandhi reclaiming power in 1980. Coca-Cola made a comeback in October 1993, post-liberalisation of the Indian market by the P V Narasimha Rao government and has maintained a strong presence ever since. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has also referred to the episode in his book "India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond". "Heedless to the signal these exits sent to the world - whose brief hopes that a change of government might have led to a more welcoming investment climate were poured down the same drain as the Coke - the Janata ministers chose to celebrate the departures of these multinationals as a further triumph for socialism and anti-imperialistic self-reliance," Tharoor wrote in the book. The Emergency was imposed 50 years ago on June 25, 1975, by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Triggered by political unrest and a court verdict invalidating Gandhi's election, the Emergency suspended civil liberties, censored the press and saw mass arrests of opposition leaders.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Chokepoints and crises: Strait of Hormuz and the age of water wars
This isn't new. Water has been at the heart of treaties, territorial disputes, and even regional conflicts. It doesn't come as a surprise to us that predictions of the next world war could be triggered by water scarcity as the global climate crisis intensifies and freshwater resources oil has traditionally dominated strategic calculations in the Middle East, the growing weaponisation of water and the vulnerability of critical maritime chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz are now central to discussions about future WATER WARS PREDICTIONS: LOOMING GLOBAL THREATFor decades, world leaders and experts have warned that water, not oil, may be the flashpoint for the next major global conflict. Three successive UN Secretary Generals have sounded the alarm, with Kofi Annan famously stating in 2001, 'Fierce competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future.'Recent World Bank and UN reports confirm that water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change and population growth, is already fuelling regional instability, migration, and violence across the now estimate a 75-95% chance of water wars in the next 50 to 100 years, with nearly 300 potential conflict hotspots identified violence has surged in the 21st century, with combatants increasingly targeting water infrastructure and using access to water as a tool of war, as seen in conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and Gaza. THE WEAPONISATION OF WATER AND THE STRAIT OF HORMUZadvertisementThe Strait of Hormuz is best known as the world's most vital oil chokepoint, with roughly a fifth of global oil and petroleum products and a significant share of liquefied natural gas (LNG) passing through its narrow waters daily. However, its strategic importance extends beyond hydrocarbons. The strait is also a critical maritime link for the Gulf region's limited freshwater resources, which are heavily reliant on energy-intensive desalination plants scattered along the Persian Gulf waterway has long served as a critical chokepoint in global trade, especially for oil and gas. Control over such passages gives regional powers significant leverage to influence not only military outcomes but also global economic stability. In the aftermath of recent escalations, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how water access is now being used as a direct bargaining chip in international conflict and India also used the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) as a strategic tool during and after Operation Sindoor to exert pressure on Pakistan. Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April 2025, India launched Operation Sindoor, a series of missile strikes on terror infrastructure in another recent conflict, Israel has restricted access to water infrastructure in Gaza, including freshwater and water-treatment plants, as a means of exerting pressure. Water access and control have become central to the humanitarian situation and are used strategically in the ongoing conflict. HOW REAL IS THE THREAT?advertisementWhile Iran has never fully blocked the Strait of Hormuz, it has repeatedly threatened to do so in response to Western pressure and military action. The current escalation, following US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, has renewed fears that Iran might use the strait as leverage, not just to disrupt oil flows but also possibly as a pressure point in the broader context of water and energy warn that any prolonged closure or disruption would have catastrophic consequences for both energy and water supplies in the Gulf, with ripple effects across Europe, Asia, and beyond. The vulnerability of the strait underscores how closely intertwined water and energy security have become—and how easily a conflict over one can trigger a crisis in the IN FUTURE WATER WARSThe prediction that World War III could be fought over water is no longer a distant climate change accelerates and water scarcity intensifies, critical chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz are at the intersection of energy and water security, and thus at the heart of potential future vulnerability highlights the urgent need for global cooperation on water management and conflict prevention, lest the world's next great war be fought not for oil, but for the very water that sustains life.
