India, Pakistan Jump Up Escalatory Ladder; US Urges 'Immediate De-Escalation'; Under Cover of Conflict, Censorship Drive Gets Real; India's Real Covid Death Toll Revealed
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK
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Over to Siddharth Varadarajan for today’s Cable
“All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” (George Orwell)
Snapshot of the day
May 8, 2025
Siddharth Varadarajan
We are at the end of Day Two of the India-Pakistan military confrontation and it is already clear that the escalation New Delhi said it was keen to avoid has already begun.
As we file this edition, there are reports from a number of locations in India of Pakistani strikes – many apparently thwarted but some which got through – especially in Jammu. And US Secretary of State Marc Rubio has spoken to both External Affairs minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging “immediate de-escalation”.
Two loud explosions and sirens were heard in Jammu city of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday night. There is a blackout across the city, news agency Reuters reports, citing eye witness. While civilian flights have been suspended at Srinagar International Airport amid heightened India-Pakistan border tensions, landslides triggered by heavy rains blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44) on Thursday, leaving Kashmir completely cut off by both air and road, Deccan Herald reports. The divisional commissioner of Jammu has issued an advisory for educational institutions in light of the ongoing tensions and reports of cross-firing between India and Pakistan.
India’s Headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff said that the “military stations of Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur in proximity to the International Boundary, in Jammu & Kashmir” were targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones but that there were no losses because the “threat was neutralised using kinetic and non-kinetic means”.
Indian media reports also speak of airfields in Jaisalmer being targeted.
On its part, Pakistan has said reports of its military having attacked Jaisalmer, Srinagar and Pathankot “are entirely unfounded, politically motivated, and part of a reckless propaganda campaign aimed at maligning Pakistan.”
There are unconfirmed media reports of India having shot down a Pakistani F-16 and of capturing a Pakistani pilot – claims that Pakistan has officially decried as fake news.
According to an Indian defence ministry on Thursday, Pakistan attempted airstrikes on as many as 15 Indian locations in the early hours of May 8. These were Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj. The MoD said Pakistan sought to use missiles and drones and that these were “neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems.”
The MoD further said that Indian armed forces targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. India did not provide details but Pakistan said it had shot down 25 Israeli made Harop drones.
Pakistan also denied the allegations that it had launched any strikes into India on the night of May 7-8, with the DG, ISPR referring to them as “phantom strikes” and telling India: “You cannot cook up any story you want.” Speaking to The Guardian, a senior Pakistani security official said Pakistan had not yet begun its offensive retaliation against India for the missile and drone attacks, but was clear that action would now be taken. “We have not fired any missiles or drone attacks inside India or any military installations,” said the official. “This is fake news from Indian authorities. The offensive response will come now.”
Meanwhile, the international media continues to quote Western officials corroborating in part Pakistan’s claims – made yesterday – of having shot down some Indian fighter aircraft. “A top Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane shot down at least two Indian military aircraft on Wednesday”, Reuters quoted two U.S. officials as saying.
BBC Verify says it has “authenticated three videos all taken from what appears to be the same field [near Bathinda] and purport to show the wreckage of a French-manufactured Rafale fighter jet”:
“Justin Crump, a former British Army Officer who runs the risk intelligence company Sibylline, told BBC Verify the wreckage appears to be a French air-to-air missile of a type used on both Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighter jets - both are operated by the Indian Air Force.”
Yesterday, a senior French intelligence official told CNN yesterday that Pakistan downed a Rafale fighter jet of the Indian air force and that officials in Paris were working to determine whether it had brought down any more jets. The official’s statement comes as Pakistan has claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter aircraft in its immediate response to India’s airstrikes. However, New Delhi has dismissed Pakistani claims of shooting down its fighter planes.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a damaged aircraft in Bathinda as well as aircraft parts scattered in the Wuyan area of Pampore, near Srinagar. In the latter case, weapons researcher Trevor Ball has identified a popularly photographed aircraft part as an external fuel tank that likely came from a Dassault Rafale or a Dassault Mirage, both of which India operates. But he has cautioned: “A dropped drop tank on its own does not mean a jet crashed. They are called drop tanks because they can be dropped.” Meanwhile, security researcher Etienne Marcuz speculates that India may have chosen to send a Rafale(s) to Pakistan because of its superior electronic warfare system, which would come in handy across a border where integrated air defence systems are densely deployed.
At a press conference in Delhi today, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said “there is a lot of unfounded disinformation and fabrication that has come from across the border, and I would just like to use this opportunity to set the records straight on some of these issues.” Curiously, the Pakistani claim of having downed five Indian fighter jets was not among them. Asked by a reporter about what Pakistani officials had claimed, he replied: “Look, when the time is right, the official information will be shared.” He then added that such claims are “not surprising” because Pakistan has a “habit of lying”.
Misri also said that India’s decision to conduct airstrikes on terror camps was in response to the original escalation by Pakistan in Pahalgam. Regarding chances of further escalation or de-escalation, the foreign secretary said, “The choice is completely for Pakistan to make.” Misri also refuted Pakistan’s allegations that India targeted a dam. He further said that India had presented evidence about terrorists, office bearers of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and handlers of terrorists to Pakistan and added that there is reason to believe that Pakistan uses the evidence only to cover its tracks and obstruct the investigation.
Pakistan is playing up the fact that Chinese fighter jets were used in its response to recent Indian military strikes, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that Beijing was kept fully informed as events unfolded, with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong visiting Pakistan’s Foreign Office at 4 AM in the morning on the day of the strikes. Meanwhile, the stock of Chinese jet maker Avic Chengdu Aircraft Co Ltd has gone up by over 36% in just two days. No brownie points in guessing why.
Here is a map of the places where either side claims to have neutralised the other’s attacks.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP has claimed that Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Rauf Azhar and other family members of Masood Azhar were killed in the ‘Operation Sindoor’. This is significant, as the Indian government has yet to officially confirm the development. When asked, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra Misri stated he had no information to share, as details remain unclear.
Earlier today, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that while India does not intend to escalate the situation, “if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very very firm response”. He said this during the Indo-Iranian joint commission meeting where his opposite number Seyed Araghchi was present. Jaishankar also met with Saudi Arabias’ foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, who made an unannounced visit to India.
From the Gulf states to France and the US to Japan, the international response to the Indo-Pakistani escalation has largely been one of counselling caution and calling on either side to keep their diplomatic channels open. Beijing offered what is probably the only public expression of disapproval – although muted – when it called India’s military operation “regrettable”. Devirupa Mitra has a round-up of the diplomatic wave that has accompanied the military action by both sides.
‘Operation Sindoor’ is ongoing and and Wednesday’s pre-dawn missile strikes in Pakistan saw about 100 terrorists and their accomplices being killed, the Union government said today in its second all-party meeting convened since the Pahalgam attack. Like last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a no-show. Congress president and Rajya Sabha leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said Modi’s absence was a “matter of sadness” given that “all of us were there and all of us are with the government in one voice [saying] that you go ahead we will stand with you and with the army”.
The Modi government, which platformed two women officers of different faiths – Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Air Force – to jointly address the nation about India’s military strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, had a few years ago opposed permanent commission to women officers. Interestingly, as highlighted by LiveLaw, in 2020, the Supreme Court had specifically acknowledged the achievements of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi in its landmark judgment as it granted Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers in the Indian Army. This was also when the Union government had made the discriminatory and patriarchal claim in its note submitted to the Supreme Court portraying women as physiologically unfit for answering the “call beyond duty” of the Army.
Meanwhile, the United States has issued an advisory instructing all consulate personnel and citizens in Lahore, Pakistan, to either evacuate if possible or shelter in place. The Consulate has also received initial reports that authorities may be evacuating some areas adjacent to Lahore’s main airport. Earlier, multiple countries, including China, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Singapore, have issued travel advisories warning against travel to regions near the India-Pakistan border due to escalating tensions, potential flight disruptions, and ongoing military activities.
The office of Delhi University’s proctor has issued a circular asking its Kashmiri students to furnish their Aadhaar number and addresses, and numerous colleges affiliated with the university have asked students from Jammu and Kashmir for these details as well as their phone numbers and course details. Speaking to Ankit Raj, proctor Rajni Abbi claimed that the move was prompted by a home ministry missive asking how many students from Kashmir study at DU. Nasir Khuehami, national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, condemned the move as a kind of profiling meant to single Kashmiri students out.
Qari Iqbal, a teacher at the Zia-ul-Aloom seminary in Poonch, was one of the Indian civilians who was killed by Pakistani shelling yesterday. But some Indian news outlets have claimed that Iqbal was killed in Operation Sindoor across the Line of Control and alleged his involvement in the Pulwama attack. The Jammu and Kashmir police has also refuted these reports.
Before he died, Iqbal was trying to pacify children terrified by the shelling at his seminary and had gone to buy groceries to prepare a meal for them when he was fatally hit by splinters in his neck, said Poonch resident Waqar Aajiz. Narinder Singh, president of Poonch’s gurdwara parbandhak committee, noted that yesterday was the first time since the 1971 war that shells were directed at residential areas; he said many families had fled to Rajouri and Jammu. Jehangir Ali reports.
Iqbal is not the only thing the Indian media got wrong. A number of news outlets – including ABP, Aaj Tak, News18 and Zee and many others – shared unverified videos, amplifying misinformation of what appears to be an Israeli airstrike on Gaza dated October 2023 as visuals of Operation Sindoor, finds Shinjinee Majumder.
However, listen to this young Muslim boy who destroyed the biased narratives of Godi anchors in seconds. [See Pen vs Sword for more]
Meanwhile, a court in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday dismissed a criminal case filed against folk singer Neha Singh Rathore. Additional Civil Judge (Sr.Div.) ACJM. Ayodhya, Ekta Singh said that the complaint is not maintainable and the complainant has no locus to file the same, according to the Live Law. The court, according to the Live Law, held that since the singer has been alleged to have harmed the reputation of the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Defence Minister, and other BJP leaders, who are either Union or State Ministers, any defamation complaint in respect of them must be filed by a Public Prosecutor with the prior sanction of the Central or State government. Which was not the case in the instant complaint.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has written to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He shared the report of a three-member panel appointed by the apex court, which inquired into the cash discovery case against Allahabad High Court’s Justice Yashwant Varma. The CJI shared the panel’s report along with the response of Justice Varma.
Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court against the alleged defamatory social media posts of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai targeting her. In an interim application, TMC's Moitra urged the court to direct Dubey and Dehadrai to take down the posts. Justice Manmeet PS Arora asked Dubey’s counsel to take instructions on whether the BJP MP was willing to deactivate the post for now. Dubey’s counsel has said the post was based on a Lokpal judgment on his complaint against Moitra. The court said prima facie, Dubey’s reliance on the judgment did not support his allegations against Moitra. “Prima facie, this document does not support your allegations (against Moitra). Until then, you please deactivate this (post),” it said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday has ruled that those accused of offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), are also entitled to copies of documents that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) does not rely on for investigation or prosecution, Bar and Bench reports. A Bench of Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that this is part of an accused’s right to a fair trial under Article 21 of the Indian constitution. “It is held that a copy of the list of statements, documents, materials, objects, exhibits that are not relied upon by the investigating officer must also be furnished to the accused,” the apex court held, as per the report. The objective, the top court added, is to ensure that the accused have knowledge of the documents in the custody of the investigating officer which are not relied upon, so that at an appropriate stage, the accused can apply for a copy of such material under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Bangladesh’s border police detained 123 individuals, among whom were Bengali and Rohingya-speaking people, after India ‘pushed them’ into the country through the Kurigram and Khagrachhari border points. The Border Guard Bangladesh also lodged a strong protest with the Border Security Force of India. Dhaka’s foreign adviser Touhid Hossain has said that if those detained are “identified as citizens of Bangladesh, we will accept them. This will have to be done in a formal channel. Pushing them in is not the way.” Mohammad Jamil Khan has the dispatch.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has urged the Supreme Court to expedite the hearing of its plea challenging the Election Commission’s move to recognise the Eknath Shinde faction as the official party and allot it the bow and arrow symbol, Live Law reports. Sibal cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 Constitution Bench judgment, which ruled that a legislative majority alone cannot determine the real party and argued that the Election Commission relied solely on this criterion in the current case. However, Justice Surya Kant noted it might not be possible to hear the matter before the court’s vacation, says LiveLaw.
The IPL match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians, scheduled for May 11 in Dharamsala, has been shifted to Ahmedabad owing to the closure of the hill town’s airport in the wake of military action against terror infrastructure in Pakistan. Gujarat Cricket Association secretary Anil Patel has confirmed the development to Sportstar.
Under cover of conflict, Modi government’s censorship drive gets real
X has revealed that the Modi government has asked it to block as many 8,000 accounts from India:
“X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees.
“The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users. In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws. For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts.
“To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process. However, we disagree with the Indian government’s demands. Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.”
Among the accounts withheld are Maktoob Media’s and The Kashmiriyat. Founding editor of Maktoob Media Aslah Kayyalakkath has said the news outlet, which often speaks truth to the Modi government, has “no knowledge of the reason for the government’s arbitrary action”. “It is an assault on press freedom,” he added. One must note that the conflict reportage on both platforms has been rational, measured and human-centric, says Alishan Jafri,. Which is perhaps a reason for their censorship in a media climate where jingoism increasingly replaces journalism.
Speaking of which, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an advisory asking over-the-top (OTT) and media-streaming platforms, as well as intermediary services operating in India to “discontinue” web series, films, songs, podcasts, and other media content of Pakistani origin with immediate effect “in the interest of national security”.
Adding to the crackdown, the account of Arpit Sharma, a content creator critical of the Modi government, has also been withheld. Meanwhile, Instagram has blocked access to India to the ‘@muslim’ page that has 6.7 million followers and which is a popular source of news. Its editor-in-chief Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh told AFP: “When platforms and countries try to silence media, it tells us that we are doing our job in holding those in power accountable.”
Modi government’s Covid cover-up exposed: Nearly 2m excess deaths in 2021
India likely recorded nearly two million excess deaths in covid-19 pandemic, newly released government data shows. The Hindustan Times’ analysis of the Civil Registration System (CRS), Sample Registration System (SRS), and MCCD 2021 data reveals that the official COVID-19 death toll was a massive understatement. For over two years, the Modi government denied and deflected, cloaking the scale of devastation in bureaucratic fog. Now, the numbers expose the truth it worked so hard to bury.
Starlink gets DoT approval after US pushed tariffs facing nations to approve Musk
Elon Musk’s Starlink has received a letter from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to offer its services in India. The DoT issued the approval after Starlink agreed to meet the new national security guidelines of Government of India (GOI), reports The Economic Times.
Meanwhile, even as Starlink got an approval from the Union government to offer its services in India, The Washington Post cited State Department Cables to report that United States has pushed some nations which are facing the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump to approve Starlink owned by billionaire Elon Musk, a close aide of Trump.
‘Operation Sindoor’ trademark: Reliance withdraws application, says ‘junior person’ filed it
Reliance Industries is one of four concerns which moved the Trade Marks Registry to register ‘Operation Sindoor’ as a work mark on the same day on which India conducted missile strikes on Pakistan under this name. Shortly after this made news, Reliance said it has withdrawn the trade mark in a statement, claiming it has no intention of trademarking ‘Operation Sindoor’, “a phrase which is now a part of the national consciousness as an evocative symbol of Indian bravery.” It further claimed that Jio Studios, a unit of Reliance Industries, has withdrawn its trademark application. It also claimed that the application had been “filed inadvertently by a junior person without authorisation.”
Pen vs sword
Deep dive
UK’s Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is under fire from Indian officials who have accused her of misrepresenting key aspects of the UK-India trade agreement negotiated under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, reports The Financial Times. At the centre of the row is a proposed “two tier” tax system, which Badenoch criticised publicly – despite claims from New Delhi that she herself supported the measure during her tenure as business and trade secretary. Indian officials maintain that Badenoch had previously backed the idea of exempting Indian workers in the UK from Britain’s national insurance contributions. “It’s amazing,” said one senior Indian official. “It was on the table when she was trade secretary.” Badenoch has rejected these claims outright, dismissing them as “fake news.” But “the accord is not without controversy, particularly around changes to rules on Indian workers being seconded to the UK, and the British government’s outline of the agreement said work was still required to “resolve the last issues” including auto quotas and carbon border taxes. Trade experts said the overall deal — which will increase long-run UK GDP by 0.1% a year, according to the government — was focused more heavily on goods than services, reflecting New Delhi’s longtime reluctance to open its markets in those areas,” writes The Financial Times in an analysis.
The newly minted trade deal with the UK sends a message to Trump: India is willing to lower its guard. From Bentleys to scotch to apples, Menaka Doshi looks at the deal’s fine print in Bloomberg’s India Edition newsletter.
Prime number: 30.8%
Over 30% of girls and 13% of boys in India experienced sexual violence before turning 18 years old in 2023, according to an analysis published in The Lancet journal. Estimating the prevalence of sexual violence against children in over 200 countries between 1990 and 2023, the study found that the highest rates were recorded in south Asia for girls – ranging from 9.3% in Bangladesh to 30.8% in India.Opeds you don’t want to miss
At a time of crisis, Pakistan is being led by a general not known for his restraint, writes Ayesha Siddiqa about General Asim Munir.
From rupee shocks to wartime tax hikes, modelling Israel’s fury may bring more fire than light, writes Mitali Mukherjee, asking whether India is “ready to pay the price of rage”.
Pakistan’s economic vulnerability makes a prolonged conflict with India particularly dangerous, writes Yusuf Nazar.
“The unfolding conflict between Pakistan and India needs to be handled with the utmost care and competence”, writes Tom Nichols who is worried that it is amateur hour in the White House. He says Defence Secretary Pete Hesgeth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard lack the intellectual bandwidth to give President Trump proper advice and though the “dual-hatted” Marc Rubio “does seem busy” as Foreign Secretary and NSA, “his job is complicated by the fact that Pakistan’s main military patron is China; this crisis could strengthen Beijing’s influence in the region, which would be to America’s detriment.”
Meher Ahmad compares the current military confrontation between India and Pakistan with what happened after Balakot in 2019 and fears the worst:
“The Indian military did not drop bombs in the middle of the woods this time. The strikes hit near major population hubs, and Pakistani military officials said that more than 20 people, including a child, have died. It’s hard to imagine this skirmish will end in a TV spectacle and memes.”
Even if national sentiments are surcharged currently, writes Vivek Katju, India must “undertake a cool analysis of how the Pakistani state apparatus will respond to [Operation Sindoor]” and also form a “realistic assessment … of how the international community will react to India's kinetic action.”
Sarayu Pani looks at India’s dual messaging in its ongoing military operations – the political framing of its action as ‘Operation Sindoor’ and the Ministry of External Affairs’ own sober narrative. The inclusion of a secular nationalist narrative in the public domestic discoursem she writes, suggests the BJP does not believe that religious nationalism alone will be enough to manufacture consent for armed conflict.
Listen up
Tensions between India and Pakistan are threatening to derail Pakistan’s already-fragile economy. Listen to this briefing from The Financial Times here.
Watch out
Jahnavi Sen speaks to Siddharth Varadarajan and Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty about the danger of escalation as the India-Pakistan military confrontation enters its second day.
Over and out
India captain Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket but has stated he will continue to play one-day internationals. The 38-year-old quit T20 international cricket after leading India to their second T20 World Cup title in the West Indies last year. Rohit played 67 Tests for the country, with his retirement meaning he will no longer play a part in India’s five-Test tour of England in June. It comes after a prolonged run of poor form for the veteran batter, with Rohit scoring only one fifty in his last 15 Test innings, averaging 10.93, a span which included 10 single-digit scores.
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