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India struck more Pakistan targets during Operation Sindoor than our forces acknowledged, an official dossier in Pakistan has revealed. The dossier on Pakistan’s Operation Bunyan un Marsoos says India struck at least seven more targets than its forces referred to. The maps in the dossier show strikes on Peshawar, Jhang, Hyderabad in Sindh, Gujrat in Punjab, Bhawalnagar, Attock and Chor. These locations were not named by the Indian Air Force or the Director General of Military Operations in the press briefings after the airstrikes last month.

The new revelation reveals that India struck far deeper than it acknowledged and shows Operation Sindoor in a new light, making it abundantly clear why Pakistan reached out to India and requested a ceasefire. It also flies in the face of Islamabad’s tall claims of inflicting heavy damage on Indian side.The Indian military establishment has held detailed briefings, meticulously explaining the scale and depth of its counterstrike after the Pahalgam terror attack left 26 innocents dead. Against this backdrop, omitting these targets is likely a calculated strategy to let Pakistan reveal the full scale of damage and snuff out any possibility of Islamabad claiming otherwise.

Earlier, satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies had revealed the damage caused by precision strikes during Operation Sindoor. In its offensive against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India struck nine locations, including the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur and the Lashkar-e-Toiba training centre in Muridke. Other locations targeted in the May 7 strikes included Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and ChakwalDespite India emphasising after the May 7 strikes that it had targeted only terror bases, Pakistan launched a volley of drones and missiles at civilian areas and military establishments across India’s western side. India responded by striking Pakistan’s military establishment. Eleven air bases were targeted — these include Nur Khan, Rafiqui, Murid, Sukkur, Sialkot, Pasrur, Chunian, Sargodha, Skaru, Bholari and Jacobabad. The heavy damage left Pakistan with no choice but to seek a ceasefire, ending the three-day escalation.

India has stressed that Operation Sindoor has drawn a big red line. Any terrorist act in India would now be seen as an act of war and invite tough action. Indian capabilities have been well-displayed during the recent conflict. And as the Pakistan dossier suggests, India struck deep and hard, more than what it acknowledged.

Rahul Gandhi took a fresh sarcastic swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday, declaring the PM had ‘surrendered’ during last month’s military conflict with Pakistan – i.e., Operation Sindoor, the 100 hours of missiles and air strikes – after United States President Donald Trump‘s ‘order’ to do so.

The BJP hit back swiftly; party spokesperson Tuhin Sinha told NDTV the remark showed Mr Gandhi “represents Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)” and is “misleading” the people.

Earlier, at an event in Bhopal, Mr Gandhi had declared, “A call came from (Donald) Trump and Narendraji immediately surrendered… history is witness to this. This is the character of the BJP and RSS (referring to the RRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ruling party’s ideological mentor).”

“Narendraji followed Trump saying ‘Narender, surrender’ by saying ‘yes, sir’,” Mr Gandhi jibed.He then referred to the 1971 India-Pakistan war, which resulted in Bangladesh’s liberation and was fought when the Congress was in power, and said, “India broke Pakistan in 1971 despite threat of America. Lions and lionesses of Congress fight against superpowers and never bow down.”

“I am well aware of the BJP and RSS people. Apply a little pressure… and they run away in fear.”

Trump’s Ceasefire Claims

US President Trump has repeatedly claimed his administration played a key role in brokering a cessation of hostilities between India and Pak in May. Despite India firmly saying Trump had played no such role, the US President insisted he “sure as hell” helped and repeated his claim in a US court.India had warned Pak against retaliating to those strikes, making it clear that only terrorist camps and bases would be targeted. Pak, however, chose to ignore the warning and countered by firing armed drones and missiles at military and civilian centres in western India.

The missiles and drones were disabled by India’s air defence system, and India launched counter-strikes of its own. Missiles and air strikes pounded both sides of the border for the next four days, till May 10, when Trump claimed he had negotiated a ceasefire.

Hours later India confirmed the ceasefire, but made it clear that it was Pakistan that had reached out to end hostilities and that there had been no pressure from the US, whether diplomatic or to do with ongoing talks over a trade deal with that country.

There are some things about life that we take for granted. Sometimes that list includes life itself, whether we realise it or not. On Wednesday, May 21, I boarded an Indigo flight from Delhi to Srinagar. Just another day in public life. Just another flight. I take my usual seat at 19F, at the emergency exit. Opting for that seat is an old habit.

I’m on autopilot, doing all the things I normally do on a flight. Forty-five minutes in the air. Halfway to our destination. Then, there is an announcement over the PA, asking us to fasten seatbelts. But there’s no turbulence. About five minutes later, we see lightning, clearly visible as it stabs through daylight. Now there is some turbulence, but it progresses rapidly. I realise this is not your regular turbulence. This is severe, the likes I’ve never experienced on my ‘frequent flyer miles’ before.

There are some things about life that we take for granted. Sometimes that list includes life itself, whether we realise it or not. On Wednesday, May 21, I boarded an Indigo flight from Delhi to Srinagar. Just another day in public life. Just another flight. I take my usual seat at 19F, at the emergency exit. Opting for that seat is an old habit.

I’m on autopilot, doing all the things I normally do on a flight. Forty-five minutes in the air. Halfway to our destination. Then, there is an announcement over the PA, asking us to fasten seatbelts. But there’s no turbulence. About five minutes later, we see lightning, clearly visible as it stabs through daylight. Now there is some turbulence, but it progresses rapidly. I realise this is not your regular turbulence. This is severe, the likes I’ve never experienced on my ‘frequent flyer miles’ before.

Not Your Usual Turbulence

The plane is scarily tilting to the right. I am acutely aware of this because I am seated on the right-hand side of the Airbus A321neo. I’m accustomed to planes banking for a variety of reasons, but this does not feel like a normal situation.

It is not a series of bumps or jerks. The entire aircraft starts tilting precariously. We are hurtling down, seemingly to a sickening drop. Not a minute or two, I would say, at least ten terrifying minutes. Outside, all we can see are clouds, ripped apart by angry streaks of lightning and constant hail. My mind is racing.

Now there are other noises in the passenger cabin. Not the normal buzz of conversation or a meal service. No, now people are screaming. Praying. Chanting. Some are actually screeching. The wave of sound creates added tension and fear. I am conscious of passengers trying to film on their phones. But a voice – was it male? Female? Passenger? Flight attendant? I can’t remember. The voice says, ‘Stop filming’.My life doesn’t flash before me. Instead, I’m consumed by the thought that if something goes terribly wrong, I will miss the wedding in a few months of my only daughter. I think of my daughter, wife, stepdaughters, brothers, colleagues, friends. I think of what a tragedy it would be to leave them all behind, without the chance to say goodbye to any of them.

Sadness. The sadness is overwhelming. It is a deep, abiding sorrow for relationships and friendships that will not progress beyond this fraught afternoon.Yes, I am aware of how blessed my life has been. Perhaps – I honestly don’t know – it had something to do with going to a dingy lane in Kolkata in 1990, which housed the worldwide headquarters of a congregation of nuns. The setting was spartan, almost awkward: four tackily painted wooden stools set out on a verandah overlooking a quadrangle. My first meeting and touching the hand of Mother Teresa (now St. Teresa of Calcutta).So, what else ran through my mind? I didn’t think about politics. I didn’t think about Parliament. I didn’t think about the number of followers I had on X or Instagram. I was focused on the people I love. People who mean the world to me. People who have been an important part of my life.

The second round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in the Turkish city of Istanbul ended without any major breakthrough on Monday, but the two warring sides agreed to a deal to swap more prisoners of war. Under the deal, Moscow agreed to hand over about 6,000 frozen bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv by next week, said Vladimir Medinsky, the Kremlin aide who led the Russian delegation in the second round of peace talks. 

The two sides have also agreed to exchange all sick and heavily wounded prisoners, as well as those aged under 25, according to  Russia’s chief negotiator.First of all, we will unilaterally hand over 6,000 frozen bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and officers to the Ukrainian side. We have kept them. We have identified all whom we could, held DNA tests and found out who they are…Next week, we will transfer these bodies to the Ukrainian side so that they can bury them in a human manner,” Medinsky said.

He said that Moscow is also ready to accept the bodies of Russian servicemen, if the Ukrainian side has them. “If they have some bodies, we will also receive them. So far, we do not know about that,” the Russian said.

Medinsky, an ideological Putin aide who has written school textbooks justifying Russia’s invasion and has questioned Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation, said that Kyiv and Moscow have also agreed to the largest prisoner swap to date.All gravely wounded and seriously ill soldiers will be exchanged for all. This is a humanitarian gesture on our part. The same approach – all for all – will be used to exchange young soldiers under the age of 25. The overall exchange quota will be at least 1,000 people from each side, possibly more,” he said, adding that the numbers are being finalised by both sides.

Furthermore, Medinsky said that both nations have agreed to create permanent medical commissions that will compile reports which Moscow and Kyiv will use to draw up exchange lists of severely wounded soldiers without having to wait for major political decisions.These exchanges will be conducted regularly as part of routine operations,” he added.

Medinsky addressed Kyiv’s allegation of Russia stealing Ukrainian children and promised to “look into the case”. 

“Children are central to us…We’ve been hearing lately that 1.5 million Ukrainian children were abducted by the Russians. Then the number came down to 200,000, and now the official figure is 20,000. We’ve constantly asked to provide documentary evidence. We finally obtained a complete list…It includes 339 names. We will look into each case,” he said. 

He denied the allegations of abduction and said that Russian children also lose contact with their families in the midst of a combat zone.None of these children have been abducted. Not a single one. These are the children who were rescued by our soldiers, often at the cost of their lives, pulled from combat zones and taken to safety. We are looking for their parents. If the parents are found, the children are returned,” he added. 

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul for a second round of peace talks a day after Ukraine conducted what is seen as a very successful drone attack deep inside Russian territory. The talks ended after about an hour with no clear breakthrough as Russia continues to reject US President Donald Trump’s demand for an immediate ceasefire.

In what could be seen as yet another evidence of Islamabad fostering terrorism on its land, a prominent Pakistani politician was seen sharing the stage with the leadership of UN-proscribed terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The incident happened in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where the state’s assembly speaker, Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, was spotted attending a rally with LeT deputy chief Saifullah Ahmad and Talha Saeed, son of LeT chief and 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Saifullah Khalid, also known as “Kasuri,” is one of the masterminds of the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and a US-designated terrorist. Meanwhile, Talha Saeed is the de facto head of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. 

When asked about his presence at the rally, the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly told reporters that LeT deputy chief Kasuri “should not be seen as an accused in the Pahalgam terror attack case without an investigation.”It was a political rally, and politicians from all walks of life were present there. Because I have a personal connection with the place (Kasur–the town where the May 28 rally took place), organisers also called me and I went,” he said. 

Khan, a high-profile political figure in Pakistan, came under scrutiny after several video clips from the rally held on Wednesday (May 28) emerged on social media. In one of the footage, Talha Saeed was seen welcoming Malik Ahmad Khan on stage with other politicians. 

Another clip showed Kasuri calling India an enemy state (“dushman”) and claimed he was “wrongfully” accused as the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack. He boasted of becoming more famous after India’s charges. The event triggered security concerns among diplomatic circles, especially in India, where authorities are closely watching the development. LeT is a banned terror organisation, but the group and its affiliates continue to operate openly in Pakistan, often holding public gatherings under the guise of charity or nationalist causes. The presence of high-profile politicians at such gatherings continues to raise questions about Pakistan’s commitment to fighting terrorism.

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