Pahalgam Attack: Why is the Indian Media Not Asking Hard Questions?

[Riaz Haq]

A recent terrorist attack on April 22 in Kashmir has killed 26 Indian tourists. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist government took no time to blame Pakistan for the attack and vowed to "punish" the neighbor for it. Indian media, also derisively known as "Godi media", immediately went into overdrive to demand action against Pakistan. New Delhi followed up with suspending the Indus Basin Water treaty from the 1960s which guarantees 80% of the water from the three western rivers (Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers) to Pakistan, while India gets the exclusive use of the water from three eastern rivers (Beas, Ravi and Sutlej rivers). India also ordered Pakistani visitors to leave the country and reduced Pakistani diplomatic staff posted in India. Pakistan responded by suspending Simla Agreement and banning overflights of Indian civilian and military aircraft through its airspace. Pakistan warned India that any attempt to block its share of water from the three western rivers will be an "act of war", adding that it was prepared to respond, “with full force across the complete spectrum of national power”. Pakistan is a nuclear-armed country, as is India. Pakistan's nuclear doctrine calls for the use of nuclear weapons if its national existence is threatened by any country. 

Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati

The Indian mainstream media has amplified the Modi government's propaganda and abandoned its role of asking the hard questions to get at the truth. Among the few who have raised serious doubts about Delhi's  narrative is a Hindu religious leader named Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati. In a viral video, the holy man has asked the following questions:

1. Shouldn't our "chowkidar"  (Modi has called himself  chowkidar in the past) be held accountable for any attacks on our home? 

2. How did the attackers manage to come in, carry out the attack without any resistance and safely escape?

3. How did you so quickly determine that the attackers came from Pakistan? And if you are so good at reaching this conclusion so quickly, why were you unable to stop the attack in the first place. 

4. Can India really cut off water flow instantly to Pakistan to "punish" it? Experts say it will take at least 20 years if India allocated unlimited funds to make it happen as fast as possible. It will require building dams, water reservoirs and canals to divert the water from Pakistan. 

Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi sees the hand of "Indian deep state" at work in Pahalgam, carried out while the US Vice President JD Vance in India. Sethi recalls what former American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote in her memoirs titled "Mighty Almighty" about the killing of 35 Sikh villagers in Kashmir that India blamed on Pakistan during US President Bill Clinton's India visit in March, 2000. She said Clinton suspected the hand of Hindu extremists in the Chittisinghpura incident. She quoted him saying that if he hadn’t made the trip, the victims would have still been alive. 

Among the Indian journalists, only Bharat Bhushan has raised some questions about his country's government narrative. He thinks India violated the back-channel agreement between Modi's NSA Ajit Doval and Pakistan's then NSA Moeed Yusuf reached after 2019 to spare the civilians on both sides in any proxy attacks. Bhushan points out a warning from Lt General Ahmad Sharif that “the (Jaafar Express) train attack (in Balochistan) has changed the rule of the game”. 

Bhushan's op ed mentions Modi's muscular policy toward people he sees as "terrorists".  Canada, Pakistan and the United States have all accused the Indian government of a campaign of international assassinations. He writes: "Another development has been the targeted killings of terrorists and militants — both Kashmir and Sikhs, that Pakistan alleges have been initiated by Indian intelligence agencies after the Pulwama terrorist strike in 2019 when 40 paramilitary personnel were killed. India was allegedly inspired to undertake extra-judicial killings on foreign soil, from the example of Russia’s KGB, Israel’s Mossad, and the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia". 

Bhushan concludes his Op Ed in Deccan Herald as follows: "How will India react now to what it believes to be Pakistan-sponsored terrorism? The bravado about punishing every terrorist act with greater-than-expected force is not going to be easy to put in action. Geopolitical circumstances have changed since 2019.  Public sentiment cannot be the sole basis of military strikes. Thankfully, no crucial election is in the offing where assuaging public emotions becomes an issue. India will also have to provide proof to the world that Pakistan was indeed involved. This would require the arrest and questioning of the terrorists involved. That may take time. Only the tacit approval of the US can ensure that a strike against Pakistan does not spin out of control". 

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[Riaz Haq]

Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
New: A high-ranking French intelligence official told CNN that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan, in what would mark the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat.

Pakistan claimed earlier Wednesday to have shot down five Indian Air Force jets in retaliation for Indian strikes, including three Rafales. Indian officials are yet to respond to the claim.

The French official told CNN that French authorities were looking into whether more than one Rafale jets were shot down by Pakistan overnight.

https://x.com/jimsciutto/status/1920142813498311108

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https://www.eurasiantimes.com/1st-ever-rafale-shootdown-has-india-c...

It is worth noting that earlier, Pakistan had claimed that it had jammed four Indian Rafale fighters flying close to the Line of Control (LoC) on the night of April 29-30, forcing them to retreat and make emergency landings. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that Pakistan jammed Indian Rafale fighters using Chengdu J-10C fighters.

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French Intelligence Official Confirms Indian Rafale Jet Fighter Loss in Combat with Pakistan

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/india-pakistan-attack-kashmir-t...


A high-ranking French intelligence official told CNN today that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan, in what would mark the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat.

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Did Pakistan really shoot down five Indian fighter jets?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/07/did-pakistan-real...

In the early hours after the attack, images of previous Indian fighter jet crashes were circulated on Pakistani social media as “proof” of a successful counter-strike. One, from a 2021 crash, showed the smoking tail of a MiG-29 jet.

But reports of jet crashes were soon corroborated from the ground. Local government sources told Reuters that three Indian jets had indeed crashed inside Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The reports mirrored a story in The Hindu, but that was swifty deleted by the newspaper under apparent pressure from the Indian government.

“There is no such on-record official confirmation from India,” the Hindu said as it apologised for what it called an error. “We regret that it created confusion among our readers.”

Residents ‘saw wreckage footage’
Early on Wednesday morning, Dar Yasin, a photojournalist with the Associated Press, raced to the outskirts of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir.



He managed to slip past Indian authorities to take pictures of what appears to be the mangled wreckage of a downed fighter jet.

“Locals told me they saw a huge ball of fire emerging from the accident site and the wreckage was burning for…hours,” Mr Yasin told AP from the scene. Several locals also took and shared video of the wreckage on social media, before being ushered away from the scene.

Images of a burned aircraft engine appear to be of the M88 engine typically used in Rafale jets, said Andreas Rupprecht, an expert in Chinese military aviation.

Some 370 miles further south, villagers in Akhali Kurd in the province of Punjab were jolted awake early in the morning by a loud explosion. Scrambling out of bed, they also found the wreckage of an aircraft, The Indian Express reported.

[Riaz Haq]

Chinese fighter jet maker's shares soar, French Rafale's maker's shares fall.

https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/chengdu-aircraft-shares-surge-after-paf-...

Tensions escalate as Pakistan retaliates against Indian airstrikes, impacting global defense stocks.
On May 7, 2025, shares of China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC), the manufacturer behind the JF-17 Thunder and J-10C fighter jets, surged following a dramatic escalation in military tensions between Pakistan and India. The rise in stock prices came after the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) successfully downed multiple Indian military aircraft, including three Rafale jets, amid a backdrop of airstrikes that left 26 civilians dead and injured 46 others in Pakistan.

According to reports, the Indian Air Force launched airstrikes targeting six locations within Pakistan overnight, with some of the strikes hitting mosques. This prompted a swift and powerful military response from Pakistan. The PAF reportedly shot down five Indian aircraft and drones, including the aforementioned Rafales, a MiG-29, and a Sunhui surveillance aircraft. The immediate aftermath of these events saw CAC's stock jump by an impressive 18.18%, reflecting a surge of investor confidence in the performance of the Chinese-made jets utilized by the PAF.

In stark contrast, shares of Dassault Aviation, the French company responsible for manufacturing the Rafale jets, plummeted by 6% in the Varpi stock market. Analysts attributed this downturn to the reported losses suffered by the Indian Air Force’s Rafale fleet during the confrontation. The Rafale jets, celebrated for their advanced capabilities, are among the most sophisticated aircraft in the Indian Air Force’s arsenal, making their loss a significant blow to India's military reputation.

On Tuesday, May 6, Dassault Aviation’s shares fell sharply after Pakistan announced that its air force had shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales. Pakistani defense sources reported that the destroyed aircraft not only included the Rafales but also a MiG-29, a Su-30, and a surveillance drone. These aircraft had attempted to target Pakistani territories while remaining in Indian airspace, but the PAF successfully tracked and intercepted them.

Despite India's claims of having shot down Pakistani aircraft, Pakistani defense spokesmen dismissed these assertions as baseless and deceptive. One spokesman stated, "No aircraft of ours was downed, nor did we suffer any loss. This is just an attempt to deceive the Indian public to avoid mourning the death of the Rafale." The spokesman emphasized that the PAF had intercepted all Indian aircraft and safely returned all Pakistani planes.

The dramatic events surrounding the airstrikes and subsequent aerial engagements have not only affected stock prices but have also raised questions about the efficacy of India’s military strategy and the reliability of its advanced fighter jets. The outcome of the Rafale jets in this confrontation has been characterized as both a technical failure and a diplomatic embarrassment for India.

[Riaz Haq]

Zhao DaShuai 东北进修🇨🇳
@zhao_dashuai
Pakistan was able to accurately track and destroy air targets inside Indian air space.

This means, the C4ISR capabilities of Pakistan is miles ahead of India. Providing Pakistan with 1 way transparency.

Pakistan saw every step made by India.

C4ISR stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance.

This capability is crucial for network-centric warfare.

So this victory by Pakistan, is not only a victory of individual weapon systems, it's a victory of the entire Pakistan air warfare system over India.

India is thoroughly outclassed.

https://x.com/zhao_dashuai/status/1919982334948061460

[Riaz Haq]

Hina Rabbani Khar
@HinaRKhar
It pains me to say this as someone who as FM of Pakistan in 2011-13 called herself an indefatigable optimist on regional peace. Truth is,India of today is a rogue state that feels it has impunity from intl law, order, norms, humanitarian laws. It is trying to establish that….

https://x.com/HinaRKhar/status/1920210660090155246

Hina Rabbani Khar
@HinaRKhar
..it can cross all red lines of intl law & face no retribution.This type of self delusion is what destroys regional & international peace. I understand that all nations are so embroiled in internal issues that no one thinks of this is as new norm setting of cross border behaviour

https://x.com/HinaRKhar/status/1920210664909332559


Hina Rabbani Khar
@HinaRKhar
Make no mistake. As a country that still believes in intl law & order and the UN charter & UNSC resolutions Pakistan has come to the limit of displaying restraint and responsible behaviour even under exceptional provocation

https://x.com/HinaRKhar/status/1920210669342712156


Hina Rabbani Khar
@HinaRKhar
I think india underestimated Pakistan s rational dialling down the previous provocations for the sake of regional peace & normalcy as a sign of weakness. India has been shown Pakistan s nations resolves & military s capability in the many jets that it has lost.


https://x.com/HinaRKhar/status/1920210677349695842


Hina Rabbani Khar
@HinaRKhar
This is not a war of narratives this is a war of intl law abiding nations that believe in UN Charter against a rogue nation that thinks it can do what it will. India made a miscalculation and I hope the whole region doesn’t have to pay the price of a terrorist state self delusion

[Riaz Haq]

Christopher Clary
@clary_co
Hoffman’s last sentence here is one of my big takeaways: Chinese stuff likely works against pretty high-end Western equipment. That’s not shocking but still kinda a big deal.

https://x.com/clary_co/status/1920135846633538024

Fabian Hoffmann
@FRHoffmann1
Okay, looks like I didn't get all the facts. Seems more likely right now that Indian aircraft did not penetrate Pakistani airspace.

Tricky to draw conclusions from this, but either Pakistan's jets had a detection advantage and launched first, or the Indian pilots/aircrafts/weapons were outmatched.

Probably a pretty good indication though that Chinese tech works.

https://x.com/FRHoffmann1/status/1920122231419445498

[Riaz Haq]

A dogfight between Chinese-made Pakistani jets and French-made Indian Rafale fighters will be closely scrutinized by militaries seeking insights that could offe…

Source: Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/global-militaries-study-india-p...

Pakistani jets shoot down Indian aircraft, US officials say
Fight pits Chinese jets, missiles against European weapons
Global militaries analyzing tactics, kit for future conflicts
Analysts caution that details are still to emerge
May 8 (Reuters) - A dogfight between Chinese-made Pakistani jets and French-made Indian Rafale fighters will be closely scrutinized by militaries seeking insights that could offer an edge in future conflicts.
A Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane shot down at least two Indian military aircraft on Wednesday, two U.S. officials told Reuters, marking a potential major milestone for Beijing's advanced fighter jet.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
The aerial clash is a rare opportunity for militaries to study the performance of pilots, fighter jets and air-to-air missiles in active combat, and use that knowledge to prepare their own air forces for battle.

Experts said the live use of advanced weapons would be analyzed across the world, including in China and the United States which are both preparing for a potential conflict over Taiwan or in the wider Indo-Pacific region.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there was high confidence that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made J-10 aircraft to launch air-to-air missiles against Indian fighter jets.

Social media posts focused on the performance of China's PL-15 air-to-air missile against the Meteor, a radar-guided air-to-air missile produced by European group MBDA (AIR.PA), opens new tab, (BAES.L), opens new tab, (LDOF.MI), opens new tab. There has been no official confirmation these weapons were used.
"Air warfare communities in China, the U.S. and a number of European countries will be extremely interested to try and get as much ground truth as they can on tactics, techniques, procedures, what kit was used, what worked and what didn't," said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"You have arguably China's most capable weapon against the West's most capable weapon, if indeed it was being carried; we don't know that," Barrie said.
The French and Americans would likely be hoping for similar intelligence from India, Barrie said.
"The PL-15 is a big problem. It is something that the U.S. military pays a lot of attention to," a defense industry executive said.
Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation (AM.PA), opens new tabdeclined comment and the MBDA consortium (AIR.PA), opens new tab, (BAES.L), opens new tab, (LDOF.MI), opens new tab could not immediately be reached for comment on a French public holiday.

SCANT DETAILS
Western analysts and industry sources said crucial details remained unclear including whether the Meteor was carried and the type and amount of training the pilots had received. Arms firms would also be anxious to separate technical performance from operational factors, analysts said.
"There will be audits of what works and what doesn't work, but I think the other overlay is the proverbial fog of war," said Byron Callan, a Washington-based defense expert and managing partner of Capital Alpha Partners.

U.S. arms companies are getting constant feedback about how their products are working in the war in Ukraine, he said.
"So I absolutely expect the same to be the case with India's European suppliers, and Pakistan and China are probably sharing the same feedback. If the PL-15 is working as advertised or better than expected, the Chinese would like to hear that."

[Riaz Haq]

Beijing's equipment gains battlefield recognition as Pakistan air force shoots down rival at 100km

by Thomas Harding, security and policy editor covering Westminster politics and European affairs

https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/asia/2025/05/09/india-pakistan...

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At least one of the French-supplied advanced Rafale fighters was destroyed by a hypersonic PL-15 missile fired by the Pakistan Air Force from a distance of more than 100km on Wednesday, it has been reported.

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Another key point, also witnessed in the Russian-Ukraine war, is that electronic warfare is becoming vital to battlefield survival, with the Indian aircraft not apparently equipped with a key radar jammer unlike British and US jets.

China has invested heavily in what experts called “a gold standard” Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar capability, which allows it to miniaturise the system and put it inside a 200kg missile. By comparison Raytheon's Phantomstrike missile is miniaturised at 60kg.

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“We've now seen Chinese weapons in action and the big question mark over the Chinese military build-up has been is their stuff actually any good?” said Tim Ripley, editor of the Defence Eye website. “This suggests that it is.”

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Once fired the PL-15E is blasted by a rocket booster to hypersonic speed of Mach 5 (6,200kph) then guided onto target by the J-10C fighter’s radar before, in the closing stages, switching to its own Aesa radar.

It can then hone in with accuracy with a second burst of speed being injected about 10km from target making it extremely difficult to evade.


Radar jammers
However, if the Rafales had been fitted with Aesa, then this would likely have picked up the threat from some distance.

An Aesa radar would have potentially allowed the Rafale to jam the Pakistan fighter and the missile in its closing stages as it allows the jet to create of beam of focused electronic noise.

“It makes it really quick to neutralise a threat from one of these missiles,” said Mr Ripley.

However, even if equipped with Aesa it is questionable whether the Rafale could have dodged the missile, said a leading defence company aviation expert.

While the radar “would help” its defences, missiles such as the PL-15E are so potent that “once you've been locked on by one it's very difficult to get away from the kill zone because those missiles are so quick,” he added.

Furthermore, if the missile detects jamming then it has the ability to quickly jump to another frequency.


French blushes
What is certain is that the Rafale wreckage, found near the Indian city of Bathinda, will be “pored over by the French because they really will want to know what happened,” said Paul Beaver, a military aviation expert.

Further humiliation for the Indians, as well as the French, was that its air force operates a wing of 36 Rafale F3Rs, the warplane’s most advanced version.

The aviation company source called it a “big, big blow to the French” because Rafale had been “touted as a cheap alternative” to the RAF Typhoon and American fighters.

“While pilot training could be part of the problem if you don't have the best equipment, then you are at a disadvantage,” he added.

There is a suggestion that the shoot-downs could be attributed to pilot error although it also proves Pakistan’s aerial combat skills.

“This demonstrates that the Pakistan Air Force is as effective as everyone always thinks it is. It's smaller than India’s but makes up for it in training and motivation,” Mr Beaver said.

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Distant dogfights
The aerial battle also marks the start of a new era of aerial warfare in which the incident showed the “very interesting development in long range missile snipers,” said Mr Ripley.

“Long range air-to-air combat is now a big trend in aerial warfare,” he added. “On the back of this lots of the air forces will be busy trying to revamp their electronic warfare effectiveness trying to neutralise these missiles. It’s a big growth area.”

[Riaz Haq]

Ex Indian diplomat Bhadrakumar on recent India-Pakistan clashes:

https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2025/May/13/operation-sin...

The bottom line is, Pakistan has demonstrated its nuclear deterrent capability. It is as simple as that. If Operation Sindoor were to be repeated every now and then, it would only have the same results and be halted unceremoniously within 100 hours. Eventually, it will not only lose all novelty to our ecstatic TV audience, but a troubled nation may eventually start blaming an inept leadership.

Pakistan is a major military power. Creating potholes in an odd runway or rendering a radar dysfunctional temporarily will not intimidate that country. Succinctly put, it must be far better for India to take help from Trump, who harbours no animus against us, to solve the problem and move on with life.

Trump’s talks with Hamas and Iran are going well, and he has pacified the Houthis. Even the irascible protagonists in the Ukraine war are currying favour with him. Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are all set to meet on Thursday in Istanbul—a “neutral site”. Beijing is ecstatic that the trade talks in Geneva “will become a new example for China and the US to work hand in hand to inject more stability and positive energy into the world”.

This is the way of the world. We must stop fantasising over newer military doctrines every now and then. Pakistan is a keen observer and adept practitioner. As true as night follows day, Pakistan will soon have a workaround.

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Four days of clashes with Pakistan exposed the faultlines in India’s foreign policy and diplomacy. None of India’s neighbours voiced support for Operation Sindoor; it had a public spat with the European Union; Russia remained largely indifferent, and alongside the Global South, refused to take sides. And after allowing for US mediation, we are now in a sullen mood and denial.

President Donald Trump, in his characteristic way, reacted to our split personality by promising to work with us “to see if, after a ‘thousand years’ (of Hindu-Muslim animosity), a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir”. Trump’s India-Pakistan hyphenation apart, our diplomacy vis-a-vis the US is crumbling. Our ‘middle class’ cannot be happy about it. The paradox is, we are squirming when Trump pays flattering tribute to PM’s “wisdom, and fortitude to fully know and understand that it was time to stop the current aggression”. Indeed, “aggression”—Trump’s choice of word—implied a vehement rejection of the raison d’être of Operation Sindoor.

On Monday, Trump tightened the screws further by disclosing he told India and Pakistan that if they didn’t stop fighting, “there won’t be any trade”. In his words: “We stopped a nuclear conflict. I think it would have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people would have been killed. I also want to thank VP JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their work.”

This unsavoury happening is playing out against the backdrop of the government’s frenetic attempts during the previous 100 days to put India on a path of deeper alignment with the US. The attempts to pamper Trump’s ego, even while stomaching insults, give away unilaterally tangible economic benefits to US companies, get India more integrated with America’s military and tech ecosystems—none of this helped India. Consider the following.