Like most Indians, I too keenly followed news, discussions and interviews on the television during and after the Operation Sindoor. Long overdue, India finally took the call to destroy terrorists and terror-infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). But there was a widespread disappointment among the citizenry that the Operation was under-leveraged and far more severe damage should have been inflicted on Pakistan. But as the dust settled, most realized that those who helmed the Operation must have considered all possibilities and decided as they did. The armed forces, later, shared with all the objectives and the successes achieved in pursuit of the Operation. It also unequivocally clarified that the offensive against Pakistan has been temporarily halted at the request of Pakistani military officials. The issues that the spokespersons of the armed forces avoided confirming, albeit with a sly smile on the face one of them, was bombing of Kirana Hills (storing nuclear warheads) and Nur Khan Air Base (which reportedly houses a secret American facility). Unabashed, in an attempt to add to his peace credentials to force-acquire his candidature for the Nobel, Trump started claiming that he intervened to halt the Operation Sindoor. A dimwit that he is, he kept repeating the falsehood despite India’s repeated denials. He didn’t stop even after a firm denial of his involvement was placed in the Indian parliament in July-2025.
Coming to the tariffs-based pinpricks by Trump, especially the penal-tariff, we are proud that India put paid to America’s presumptuousness that it could pressure or leverage India, like many other nations, with carrots & sticks. Trump had expected India to be grateful for American attention and eager for American approval of its ways. Instead, he found a nation that treated America not as the centre of its universe. That India’s steadfast denial of his involvement marred his candidature to the Nobel appears to have irked Trump more. In yet another display of stupidity, geriatric Trump has now clubbed the issues of cessation of the Operation and imposition of the tariffs. Remember his statement on 13th October, 2025 in Sharm El Sheikh (a serious event marking Gaza peace agreement converted to a clown’s carnival by Trump) where he once again spoke about his role in halting the Operation Sindoor. But this time he added “threats of tariffs” as a tool. Evidently, he got his chronology totally wrong here. As expected, Poodle Sharif (also known as Shehbaz Sharif), confirmed the statement with a sheepish grin on his face.
This is going on for long now. Despite knowing that Trump is a liar, mentally unstable, narcissistic and hypocrite, there are a few issues that continue to engage public curiosity in India, seeking some clarity.
- Why does Trump continue to lie about his role in cessation of the Operation Sindoor. Having missed the Nobel bus this year, one had expected him to behave. Bikram Sen, an argumentative Bengali friend quipped that Trump is preparing for the next round of the Nobel and wouldn’t want the Operation Sindoor omitted from his curriculum vitae. For all we know, Bikram added, Trump, in pursuit of the Nobel-2026, may be readying to instigate a few international conflicts to intervene in. Coming to Trump’s attempts to perpetuate the falsehood, it is not him wanting to take credit but also his inability to reconcile to a new India. He believed he had it all figured out. A few defence deals, some trade incentives, a few compliments and India would fall in line. He miscalculated. India wasn’t seeking alignment. It sought respect. Alignment implies subordination and respect implies equality.
- Trump made all claims himself. But all denials of his role came from the spokespersons of either the armed forces or the MEA. Even the statement in the parliament in July-2025 was made by the External Affairs Minister (EAM). One is yet to see denial of Trump’s involvement by Modi personally. What is preventing Modi from confronting Trump on facts ?
- It is assumed that all interactions between heads of states / governments over telephone or video-calls are recorded by both sides. American administration would be foolhardy to make such records public and let the world know that the emperor has no clothes. Why doesn’t India do that, especially as Trump continues to lie non-stop ? If not the whole conversation, the relevant parts need to be shared with the citizenry.
- India firmly maintains that the Operation was halted by India on 10th May, 2025 at the request of the DGMO-Pakistan. Wouldn’t it elevate the government’s position if it also shares with the citizenry the conversation between the two DGMOs ? Moral grandstanding may not always be appropriate. Certainly not in the instant case.
- India bombed, planned or otherwise, a facility at the Kirana Hills in Pakistan as informed by various subject-matter experts and journalists. The location was reportedly being used to warehouse nuclear warheads. Though our armed forces have denied the incident, shouldn’t they come forward now to give some clarity as there are corroborative evidences available publicly ? The grapevine also strongly suggests that some of the warheads belonged to America. Given the fact America has about 750 sites globally where it is present militarily, this shouldn’t surprise anyone. There are related questions. Why these American nuclear warheads were stored in Pakistan ? Who were they to be used against ? Iran. Or, China. Or, (not a farcical possibility with a mentality unstable person helming America currently), India.
- Nur Khan Air Base in Pakistan houses transport, surveillance and combat aircrafts. During the Operation Sindoor damages of consequence were inflicted on the facility. It is reported that a section of the base is+ a secret American facility which is out of bounds for even Pakistani military personnel. The offensive by India is reported to have damaged a few American F-16 aircrafts. It’s time that the government let us in on what actually happened at the Nur Khan Base. The government’s response assumes greater importance as the F-16 have the capability to carry a variety of payloads including nuclear warheads.
- There were press releases, briefings by the MEA, a statement by the EAM in the parliament, an address to the parliament by Modi during a special discussion and a major press briefing by the DGMOs of Tri-Services. All these reassured the country that Pakistan didn’t go un-retributed, not only for the Pahalgam massacre but also for the killings of over 1,400 civilians since 1993. But the government left a lot to be desired in terms of a richer and firmer communication to the citizenry. People did get a lowdown on what our armed forces did during the offensive and subsequently to neutralize the Pakistani response. The canards spread by Pakistan about downing Raffael aircrafts, role of China & Türkiye, presence of American nuclear warheads in Pakistan, American Beechcraft (equipped to detect radioactive contamination) hovering over Kirana Hills, landing at Murree of an Egyptian aircraft carrying Boron (used for supressing radioactive emissions), repeated lies from a full-of-himself Trump, the diplomatese resorted to by MEA spokespersons (instead of calling out Trump’s lies upfront) and Modi’s stoic silence. All this was too much of information overload for average Indians to piece the same together and draw a clearer, infallible narrative therefrom. It goes without saying that the government needs to keep a few things confidential and be discreet about a few more. Keeping that in view, shouldn’t the government bring out a cohesive report, for public consumption, giving a fuller account of the Operation Sindoor (supported by satellite imagery, videos, images, maps etc.) and the role played by various nations ? Today, the world is heavily information-driven and no-frills information gives greater credibility.
- An extraordinary event was witnessed during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin (China) recently. Modi and Putin travelled in the same car for about 45 minutes. Prior to the travel, Putin waited for nearly fifteen minutes for Modi to join him. Couldn’t they find a better place for discussions within the summit venue or elsewhere in Tianjin ? Whilst Indians wonder as to why did they meet the way they did, more important is to know what did they discuss ? Was there any clandestine plan by America which Putin became privy to and shared with Modi during the tete-a-tete in the car? Why did Modi make a loaded statement, whilst addressing a gathering on 2nd September, 2025, the day after his return from China, “gayaa thaa is liye taali baja rahe ho ya ki wapas aa gaya hu isliye” (Are you applauding that I went there or that I came back) ? Remember Modi’s earlier statement during a speech after the trade-talks had hit the roadblock after India denied America entry in agriculture and SME sectors. He had said “vyaktigat taur pe mujhe iski bhaari keemat chukani padegi” (I know, this entails a huge personal cost to me). Is there any connection, as the grapevine suggests, between the Modi-Putin discussions in the car and death of an American Colonel Terrence Jackson in the Hotel Westin in Dhaka later the same month, whose body was quietly and hurriedly removed by the American embassy officials without any police report or a post mortem ? Is it correct that there were two other Americans who were found dead in suspicious circumstances in other hotels in Dhaka around the same time? To be upfront, India needs to know if America is hatching plans to assassinate Modi ?
- We all know that the Operation Sindoor commenced on the night of 7/8th May, 2025 and was halted on 10th May, 2025. Trump made a new claim on 13th October, 2025 that he had used “tariffs” as a tool to halt the Operation. Pure humbug. Everything was hunky-dory between India and America till the tariffs emerged on the scene i.e., two and a half months after the Operation Sindoor was halted. The tariff and the penal-tariff were imposed on India on 30th July, 2025 and 6th August, 2025 respectively. How could Trump have possibly used the tariffs-tool on 10th May, 2025 ? Neuro-scientists say truth is easy as it is direct retrieval of memory but lying is mental gymnastics. It is evident that the geriatric Trump, whilst performing mental gymnastics, completely missed out on the facts.
- Elbowed by Trump, Poodle Sharif publicly acknowledged, in his embarrassment-of-a-speech at Sharm El Sheikh on 13th October, 2025, Trump’s role in cessation of the Operation Sindoor. I dare Sharif to embarrass Indian government and armed forces by sharing with the world the recordings of his conversation with Trump, proving that Modi too was spoken to by Trump similarly. Ready to bet both my balls, I am sure that he has zilch to show and he is lying through his teeth only to please his American master.
- On the issue of import of crude oil from Russia, India has always maintained and stated publicly that the decision is based on the country’s interests and is not a political posturing. At the core of the decision to import crude from Russia is the price as also the reliability of supply-chain. On 15th October, 2025, Trump told the reporters that Modi had “assured” him that India would stop buying oil from Russia “soon”. A spokesperson of the MEA denied, the very next day, knowledge of any conversation between Modi and Trump on the Russian oil. Again, on 22nd October, 2025, whilst talking about exchange of Diwali greetings, Trump repeated the statement and, this time, mentioned that imports from Russia shall be brought to “almost nothing” by India by the year end. The rationale to import from Russia was shared with all and sundry multiple times by the senior ministers of the central government and the MEA spokespersons at various forums. So, why are we hearing of reduction in Russian imports from Trump and not from the ministers or the officials of the government, assuming that Trump is not pulling another fast one on the world ? Is it correct that the public sector oil companies had reduced imports from Russia by 45% by September-2025. Is the government actually planning to taper off crude oil imports from Russia ? If yes, are we being charged the same discounted price and extended the same assurance of continuity of supplies as Russia by whichever countries we plan to source in future from ? If otherwise, why the volte-face ?
In Hindi, there is a term Rajputi which, colloquially, means utmost bravery in total disregard to outcomes. The term describes a trait of Rajputs, historically a martial race, known for their fearlessness. One appreciates that Rajputi is avoidable in international diplomacy as the primary objective is to strengthen the nation and advance its interests. Modi, with a decade of experience of managing America’s Machiavellian politics, has chosen to respond to Trump’s coercive ways with a quiet but firm push-back. No dramatic speeches. No flag burning. Modi’s is a simple and firm assertion of India’s right to make its own choices based on its own interests. Having said that, in politics, it pays to loop in the citizenry intermittently on actions or inactions lest one is, unwittingly, misunderstood. With the best of intentions in wanting to defer clarity, Modi runs the risk of undermining his domestic constituency.