India does not seem to have recovered from the downing of five aircraft on Tuesday/Wednesday night, as it was reduced to making wild claims that only exposed it to further embarrassment, this time the embarrassment of ridicule, rather than that of incompetence. India has claimed to have downed an F-16 and a Jf-17 Thunder. The F-16 has been a problem for India, especially perhaps because it has not been scrambled by the PAF, while the Jf-17 had to be shown as vulnerable because responsible for downing the IAF’s Rafales. The Indian embarrassment has increased after the international media, while examining the facts, seems to be unable to avoid confirming that the planes have been indeed shot down. Further, the Indian launch of its drone fleet seems to have achieved no result, through Indian sources have claimed to have knocked out Lahore’s air defences, even though the next day saw another salvo of drones, without any better results. Apart from the IAF’s blushes, its performance has also thrown into doubt the NJP government’s narrative about its ability to go into hostile territory and extract retribution.
There seems to have been a ratcheting up of the international efforts to broker peace. While the USA, through Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is encouraging both Pakistan and India to engage in direct dialogue, US Vice President J.D. Vance has expressed doubt that the USA should get involved. It should be remembered that he is hardly an honest broker, having been in India on a family visit when the Pehelgam incident took place. His wife is of Indian origin, and it seems that he is spouting the Indian government’s tune. India does not want to have anything about the Pehelgam incident, or ensuing events, examined objectively, for fear of exposure.
Secretary Rubio should probably pay attention to the crescendo of voices from other countries. It is not a matter of talking to both countries. The peace of the world is threatened by this stand-off, and if the USA has any claim to being a superpower, then he has to make India stand down. Pakistan intends to respond to the death of its citizens, and it has to continue defending itself against Indian aggression. There is a danger, remote but growing closer, that India might be merely buying time to complete preparations, and to use the Pakistani response to launch its own attack. Pakistan will defend itself, and ascend the escalatory ladder. Someone has to knock some sense into India’s head before that.
