India hits Lahore in retaliation after Pakistan targeted Jammu airport

India Today

India has launched a counterattack on Lahore, the heart of Pakistan's Punjab, in response to Pakistan's strikes on Jammu airport.

Transcript

00:00Let's get more details of India hitting Lahore. Remember, Lahore is the heart of Pakistan Punjab.

00:06That is the city where Pakistani power comes from, both the military power and its political power.

00:14India's counter-attack in Lahore. Remember, this morning, India claimed that they had,

00:19and India reinforced the fact that Pakistan's Lahore air defense systems had been neutralized.

00:25These missiles and drones had been used to target Lahore's air defense systems,

00:31and they had been totally neutralized. So, India's response has been clear.

00:36You hit us in Jammu, we will hit you right in your heartland.

00:40And that is the danger that Pakistan has. They can try to hit us in Jammu or Jaisalmer,

00:45which are close to the border. We can go right into the heartland of Pakistan,

00:50because the counter-attack in Lahore sends a clear message that Pakistan Punjab,

00:55we saw it last, earlier this morning, Sialcote, Rawalpindi and Lahore were hit by missiles and drones,

01:03and Pakistan had very little response to it. So, while India today has brought down three Pakistani jets

01:10in their attempt to target Jammu and Jaisalmer, India has gone a step further,

01:15gone and hit Lahore, which is the heart of Pakistan Punjab.

01:20I mean, India, Rajdeep, if I may, India had hit Lahore just two days ago, even in Mureetke.

01:24Mureetke is on the outskirts of Lahore, the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

01:27But those were very different, because those were hitting Bahawalpur and Mureetke,

01:34which were terror bases of the Jais and the Lashkar.

01:36And India made it very clear then, we are hitting terror infrastructure, not military installations.

01:42What we are now seeing is after Pakistan strikes, attempted strikes on India,

01:49India has hit back on presumably equivalent targets in Lahore.

01:55Now, what those targets are, we'll wait and see.

01:57But India hitting Lahore, counterattack in Lahore, is a clear message that the government of India

02:03is not going to stand by to watch what Pakistan does.

02:07This is clear retaliatory action, important to use the word retaliatory,

02:13which India has made it very clear, that this escalatory spiral was started by Pakistan with Mahal Gham.

02:20Yes, external affairs minister, Dr. S. Jais Shankar saying,

02:22any action by Pakistan will be met with a firm response.

02:26And Rajdeep, this is a very significant point.

02:28To hit Lahore would require political clearance.

02:31And this is where Narendra Modi government, Rajdeep,

02:33is very different from any government in the past,

02:35even if it was an Atal B. Hari Vajpayee,

02:38who said that your aircraft will not go across.

02:40Here, Balakot, your aircraft went across.

02:42Right now, your missiles and your drones and your systems are hitting across and hard, Rajdeep.

02:47Okay, let's get exactly what Dr. S. Jais Shankar has said.

02:51He said, I've spoken with U.S. Secretary Rubio.

02:54Remember, he's also National Security Advisor Rubio at the moment.

02:57Deeply appreciate U.S. commitment to work with India in the fight against terrorism.

03:01Underline India's targeted and measured response.

03:06And these are important words.

03:07Targeted and measured response to cross-border terrorism.

03:10We will firmly counter any attempts at escalation.

03:14So what you've got is Pakistan provoking India to push up the escalatory ladder.

03:19India making it very clear that we have targeted and measured response to cross-border terrorism.

03:25If you hit Jammu, we will hit Lahore.

03:29And therefore, the costs for Pakistan are that much greater.

03:33Because Lahore, as I keep repeating, is the heartland of Pakistan.

03:37It's the heartland of Pakistan's Punjab.

03:40When you hit Lahore, you're really hitting the jugular vein,

03:43if I may use the word that was used by General Munir, of Pakistan.

03:48And therefore, Pakistan has been sent a firm warning, a counterattack.

03:52Counterattack, all of this happening in the last couple of hours.

03:55I think the one concern is just how fast things are happening.

03:58When you go up an escalatory spiral, when it happens in a couple of hours,

04:02then coming down is not so easy.

04:04But when Pakistan struck Jammu today, despite warnings by India that they wanted,

04:09that they were not into an escalatory battle,

04:12they have effectively given a red rag to India.

04:15India has struck back and hit Lahore.

04:17Remember, all of this also comes on the backdrop of NSA Ajit Doval

04:20meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi a short while ago with a complete briefing.

04:25Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, spoken to Dr. Jai Shankar.

04:29But as Dr. Jai Shankar's response has said,

04:32we will firmly counter any attempts at escalation.

04:35But that does not mean that India does not reserve,

04:38and these are my words, India does not reserve the right to retaliate.

04:43So, Pakistan escalation will get a firm response is the message that India has sent.

04:49Now, whether that message reaches GHQ in Rabalpindi is clear.

04:53Remember, earlier today, India had hit Lahore's missile systems.

04:57Those defense systems had been neutralized.

05:00And you know, Rajdeep, if I may,

05:01if the Pakistanis had understood how India would react,

05:05the moment your air defense system has been hit,

05:08you know you're vulnerable, you don't have a shield,

05:10you do not escalate, a sane military mind would not have escalated.

05:14But Pakistan is not a sane military mind.

05:17Their army chief, Asim Munir, he escalated, he hit Jammu.

05:21Perhaps thinking that India will respond either in Sialkot,

05:24or somewhere in Pakistan occupied Jammu in Kashmir.

05:26But that is not how India is thinking.

05:28India is thinking to quickly put Pakistan in its place,

05:32or that military jihad complex in its place.

05:34And that's exactly what you do.

05:36You hit where Pakistan is most vulnerable,

05:37and Lahore without an air defense shield is where they're vulnerable.

05:41Their AVAX has gone down.

05:43And why, Rajdeep, did they bring their AVAX up?

05:45Because they don't have radars on ground.

05:47Just understand, military is science.

05:50It is a scientific operation.

05:52This is how you bring your enemy in to a place,

05:55what is called a kill zone.

05:56You brought the AVAX into a kill zone and killed it there.

06:00You're seeing the images that are playing out on your screen at the moment.

06:03Those are deferred images that you're seeing.

06:06Pakistan air warning systems have been hit in Punjab.

06:10Pakistan escalation will get a firm response,

06:13is Dr. Jaishankar's comment.

06:15So clearly Pakistan now finds itself on the defensive,

06:19because it is Pakistan.

06:20And this point was reiterated importantly

06:22by the Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in a press briefing.

06:27Pakistan began the escalatory spiral with what happened in Pahalgam,

06:32when innocent civilians were targeted in the manner that they were

06:35by the Pakistani-based jihadi factory.

06:38So in that sense, Pakistan now getting a sense,

06:41you hit us, whether it's Jaisalmer or Jammu,

06:44we will come into your heartland.

06:46Now will that be enough to make General Munir see reason,

06:50to be rational about what we are seeing around us

06:53is the key to what happens next.

06:56Pakistan must recognize now that they cannot get away

07:00by constantly going on this escalatory radar

07:03without expecting more kinetic action from India.

07:07Absolutely.

07:08Razeeb, if I may, India's actions aren't just kinetic.

07:11India has also released water from the Salal Dam

07:13exactly at 5 o'clock in the evening.

07:16That water will be reaching Pakistan

07:18and some of those areas in Pakistan closer to midnight,

07:21which is what would make Pakistan's operations

07:24even more difficult, even the civilian areas

07:26would be inundated in a while from now.

07:29So there are kinetic measures,

07:31there are non-kinetic measures that India is taking.

07:33That's point one.

07:34Point two, Indus Waters Treaty being held in abeyance

07:37was a signal that was going out to Pakistan.

07:39Stop terror if you want water.

07:41Water is not being weaponized to stop it.

07:44India will only harness the entire amount of water

07:46that we are entitled to.

07:47Lahore being hit is like,

07:49you know, when Shri Ram had to kill Ravad,

07:51Ravad was hit in his navel.

07:54That is how you destroy evil.

07:56Pakistan has to be targeted in Pakistan's Punjab province

07:59when you want to destroy that evil of radical Islamist terror

08:03and that military jihad complex

08:04and India is hitting Pakistan in Lahore,

08:07in Bahawalpur, in Mureetke Rajdeep.

08:09Pakistan has to be targeted in Pakistan.

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