India

[Dalal.Holdings]

A loss of fighter jets over India’s own territory is hugely embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as still flying Russian jets.

 

I’m not sure the French jets are all that great either.

 

Pakistan has F-16s. If Modi can get F-35 access, it would be a big game changer, but India has been very slow/reluctant to source American fighters for stupid reasons

[whatstheofficerproblem]

19 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

I think these strikes (which violate Pakistans sovereignty ) are for Indias domestic audience to reinforce Modi’s strongman image. They are unlikely to solve the underlying problem.

 

 

Spek, please tell me how the underlying problem can be solved. Pakistan's foreign minister admitted on international media that his govt is and infact has been funding terrorist camps for decades. You haven't seen these monsters upclose, I can tell you it is quite the radicalizing experience.

 

21 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

Did the Pakistan’s really shoot down 5 Indian fighter jets? if so, the Indian strikes were a disaster.

 

 

This has been debunked, the 5 jets news was 'claimed' by Pakistani media. GOI reported that all pilots & jets involved are safe and returned home.

[whatstheofficerproblem]

3 hours ago, Vish_ram said:

we had to cancel our trips to Leh/Nubra valley in july. bummer. 

 

Just visit Himachal instead. Sure, they'll charge 150/- for a plate of Maggi, but you can return alive at least and the tour guides won't be complacent in an organized pogrom.

[Dalal.Holdings]

9 minutes ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

 

This has been debunked, the 5 jets news was 'claimed' by Pakistani media. GOI reported that all pilots & jets involved are safe and returned home.

 

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/india-pakistan-attack-kashmir-tourists-intl-hnk

 

 

Quote

Downed jets: A high-ranking French intelligence official told CNN that Pakistan downed one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), in what would mark the first time that one of the sophisticated French-made warplanes has been lost in combat. Pakistan had claimed to have shot down five IAF jets in retaliation for Indian strikes, including three Rafales. Indian officials are yet to respond to the claim.

 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

6 minutes ago, Dalal.Holdings said:

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/india-pakistan-attack-kashmir-tourists-intl-hnk

 

Pictures taken of parts of an aircraft that crashed in Indian-administered Kashmir show the label of a French manufacturer, but experts said it was not possible to say whether the part came from a Rafale aircraft.

 

Interesting, everyone is claiming something. Let's wait and see, would be a shame if this is true. Interesting tidbit, the Rafale caused such waves in India that when I was young, my friends and I used to think that Dassault was the country and France was the company.

[Dalal.Holdings]

 

If India lost any fighter jets, it’s hugely embarrassing for them because it’s likely that none of the fighter jets left Indian airspace to conduct the attack.

 

The fact that a French official admitted as much makes it highly likely. I’d say that 1 Rafale is likely the real loss (not 5 and not 0).

 

[Dinar]

31 minutes ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

 

Spek, please tell me how the underlying problem can be solved. Pakistan's foreign minister admitted on international media that his govt is and infact has been funding terrorist camps for decades. You haven't seen these monsters upclose, I can tell you it is quite the radicalizing experience.

 

 

This has been debunked, the 5 jets news was 'claimed' by Pakistani media. GOI reported that all pilots & jets involved are safe and returned home.

Everyone knows how the underlying problem gets solved.  Either all Muslims from Kashmir get deported to Pakistan, or all non-Muslims leave Kashmir and Kashmir is handed over to Pakistan.  The problem is of course even if Kashmir is handed over to Pakistan, and all non Muslims leave, then the grievances switch to the fact that Muslims in the rest of India are not treated "properly."  Of course everyone forgets that Christians and other non-Muslims can only dream of being treated in the Moslem world the way Muslims are treated in India.  

[Vish_ram]

Pakistan will eventually be split into 4 separate countries. It’ll become too small to fund terrorists. Or they’ll be busy with infighting. Problem solved. 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

3 hours ago, Dinar said:

Everyone knows how the underlying problem gets solved.  Either all Muslims from Kashmir get deported to Pakistan, or all non-Muslims leave Kashmir and Kashmir is handed over to Pakistan.  The problem is of course even if Kashmir is handed over to Pakistan, and all non Muslims leave, then the grievances switch to the fact that Muslims in the rest of India are not treated "properly."  Of course everyone forgets that Christians and other non-Muslims can only dream of being treated in the Moslem world the way Muslims are treated in India.  

 

A complete population transfer when they had the chance in 1945-47 was the way. Pakistan eradicated the minorities in their country while in India Muslims are >20% of the population, have their own law board and personal laws. India at this point is a quasi-sharia republic. I really do wish Modi was even a modicum of the dictator the western media portrays him to be. The unfortunate reality of India is that the unelected have too much power there (Judges).

 

The unity of ummah is such that we have Muslims in India whose hearts bleed for Gaza yet not a single tear for their fellow countrymen who die just up north. I literally have schoolmates who went to the middle east to join certain terror outfits.

 

The west will soon see what will happen when you concede even a little with this denomination. Already asking for sharia in UK & AU. Pockets of Michigan are so homophobic that there is stone pelting going on there. Next demand will be for a separate nation from within.

 

The moderate provides his shoulder so that the extremist can place a gun on it and fire.

[whatstheofficerproblem]

2 hours ago, Vish_ram said:

Pakistan will eventually be split into 4 separate countries. It’ll become too small to fund terrorists. Or they’ll be busy with infighting. Problem solved. 

 

The thing with Pakistan Vish which I really envy is that their sense of 'ummah' unites them in such a way that they share a common visceral hatred for the 'kufr'. This unites them at times of crisis and it has been their modus operandi for a while. Meanwhile in India we have people who take some sick pleasure in defending literal terrorists for god knows what reason.

 

The infighting within Pakistan you see i.e. Balochistan etc. is because when you have eradicated all the non-believers, your instinct is to create a new non-believer. Since the idol worshippers are all already erased, you now need to fight about who the real follower of the religion is.

 

Folks in Bangladesh just cut a 100 yr old Banyan tree yesterday because Hindus & Buddhists used to worship it before independence. Make that make sense. There always has to be a non-believer to cut down.

[patience_and_focus]

19 hours ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

 

The thing with Pakistan Vish which I really envy is that their sense of 'ummah' unites them in such a way that they share a common visceral hatred for the 'kufr'. This unites them at times of crisis and it has been their modus operandi for a while. Meanwhile in India we have people who take some sick pleasure in defending literal terrorists for god knows what reason.

 

The infighting within Pakistan you see i.e. Balochistan etc. is because when you have eradicated all the non-believers, your instinct is to create a new non-believer. Since the idol worshippers are all already erased, you now need to fight about who the real follower of the religion is.

 

Folks in Bangladesh just cut a 100 yr old Banyan tree yesterday because Hindus & Buddhists used to worship it before independence. Make that make sense. There always has to be a non-believer to cut down.

 

Seems to be true. This is from Dhaka Tribune, a Bangladesh newspaper

 

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/380504/200-year-old-banyan-tree-cut-down-in-madaripur

 

"

Azam Khan, UP member of Ward No. 3 of the same union said: “Some people used to perform rituals under the tree. Religious scholars found this objectionable. Since such practices are not prescribed in Islam, they decided to remove the tree. That’s why everyone gathered to start cutting it down. None of them are affiliated with any political party.”

He added: “People from all the surrounding villages were present during the tree-cutting. Among them were residents of my own area as well. Kader Bepari, Dadon Huzur, Kabil Bepari, Ibrahim Huzur, and the local mosque's imam were all present.”

Md Dadon, a resident of Shri Nodi village who was present during the incident, said that around 200 people took part in cutting the tree.

He said: “People used to worship under the banyan tree, which the scholars could not tolerate. That’s why the tree was felled.”

[Dalal.Holdings]

https://www.reuters.com/world/pakistans-chinese-made-jet-brought-down-two-indian-fighter-aircraft-us-officials-2025-05-08/#:~:text=While Reuters reported on Wednesday,were used in the shootdowns
 

So…let me get this straight: India “retaliates” against Pakistan and bombs some random targets while Pakistan destroys at least two Indian fighters with Chinese jets and missiles in air to air combat thus proving that Pakistan’s military has some real teeth thanks to cozying up with China and perhaps even superior fighter jets and missiles compared with the IAF.

 

Sounds like Pakistan won that battle handily. Quite embarrassing for India. I mean compare that with the military abilities of a country like Israel and it’s not even close.

 

While Pakistan arms itself with high tech Chinese gear, India dithers in forming a close alliance with the U.S. and instead continues to rely on second and third rate defense hardware from France and Russia…

 

Edited May 10, 2025 by Dalal.Holdings

[Hektor]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-15/trump-wants-apple-to-stop-moving-iphone-production-to-india

 

Trump Asks Apple to Stop Moving iPhone Production to India

 

President Donald Trump said he’s asked Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook to stop building plants in India to make devices for the US, pushing the iPhone maker to add domestic production as it pivots away from China.

 

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said of his conversation with Apple’s chief executive officer in Qatar, where he’s on a state visit. “He is building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.” As a result of their discussion, Trump said Apple will be “upping their production in the United States.”

[Hektor]

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trump-india-has-offered-us-trade-deal-with-zero-tariffs-2025-05-15/

 

Trump: India has offered US a trade deal with no tariffs

[patience_and_focus]

This new book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Road:_How_Ancient_India_Transformed_the_World) is a great read, not jingoistic but really following a large body of evidence. There is a recent podcast with the author - https://carnegieendowment.org/podcasts/grand-tamasha/recovering-the-lost-indosphere?lang=en

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Xerxes]

William wrote a body of books on India. 
and hosts the Empire podcast. 
 

I have read only the East India Company. Next on list, the Last Mughal and Return of the King. 

[Haryana]

William Dalrymple 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/hidden-story-ancient-india-west-maths-astronomy-historians

 

Brahmagupta was not alone, and he viewed himself as standing on the shoulders of an earlier Indian genius, Aryabhata (476–550).

 

The ideas of these two men, bringing together the mathematical learning of ancient India, travelled first to the Arab world, then far to the west, giving us not only crucial mathematical concepts such as zero, but the very form of the numbers we use today.

 

It was they who perfected the numeral system in use around the world, arguably the nearest thing the human race has to a universal language; yet in the west, we attribute our numerals to the Arabs from whom we borrowed them, not the Indians who actually invented them.

 

Although we in the west are almost entirely unaware of it, Indian learning, religious insights and ideas are among the crucial foundations of our world.

[Xerxes]

Come on guys. 
 

Take the time to read the actual book. Open a thread about it in the Book section and give your comments about it. 

[patience_and_focus]

1 hour ago, Xerxes said:

Come on guys. 
 

Take the time to read the actual book. Open a thread about it in the Book section and give your comments about it. 

Yes, my bad. I should have done that in the books section. It's now corrected.

[Hektor]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-27/india-allows-private-firms-to-build-advanced-fighter-jets

 

India Allows Private Firms to Build Advanced Fighter Jets

[patience_and_focus]

India’s economy grew by faster-than-expected 7.4% in the March quarter.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/30/india-q4-gdp-.html

[Xerxes]

 

[Spekulatius]

5 minutes ago, Haryana said:

India and the UK signed a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the biggest agreement London has inked with a country since exiting the EU ...

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-uk-sign-landmark-free-trade-agreement-during-pms-meeting-with-uks-starmer-2760664-2025-07-24

A very good thing. The EU tries to strike a similar deal.

[Hektor]

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/india-pauses-plans-buy-us-arms-after-trumps-tariffs-2025-08-08/

 

India pauses plans to buy US arms after Trump's tariffs

[Spekulatius]

LMAO: