The cat is out of the bag. Pakistan’s decades-old nuclear bluff has finally been exposed—accidentally, and rather embarrassingly, by itself. In a striking development, the Advisor to India’s Defence Minister, in an interview with Republic TV, confirmed that Pakistan’s nuclear sites were indeed impacted during the recent Indian airstrikes, although they were not deliberately targeted. This stunning revelation not only contradicts Pakistan’s earlier denials but also dismantles their long-held strategy of using the “nuclear threat” as a shield for harbouring terrorists. Let’s be clear: the Indian Air Force (IAF), during Operation Sindoor, categorically denied targeting any nuclear installations. When asked whether Kirana Hills—long suspected to house Pakistani nuclear assets—was hit, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti wryly responded, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installations. We didn’t know about it.” The message was sharp: India doesn’t need to hit its nukes to dismantle your war machine. Yet, inadvertently, Pakistan’s own panic has outed the truth. Their Prime Minister confirmed that Indian strikes penetrated deep into Pakistan’s military assets. Nine airbases, including the critical Nur Jahan facility, were taken out with precision. It was Nur Jahan’s proximity to Pakistan’s nuclear stockpiles that triggered Islamabad’s immediate distress calls to the United States, pleading to “save our nukes.” Let that sink in. Pakistan, a self-proclaimed nuclear power, ran crying to Washington because India’s strikes came too close for comfort. The Indian strikes were in direct response to a failed Pakistani provocation. Pakistan, emboldened by Chinese backing, attempted to launch drones and missiles—none of which breached Indian airspace. Thanks to India’s integrated air defense system, including the S-400, Akash, and BrahMos, these attacks were neutralized swiftly.
India’s retaliation was strategic and brutal. Nine of Pakistan’s 21 major air bases were rendered non-operational. Terrorist command centers belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were annihilated. Pakistan’s retaliatory drone missions, using Chinese technology and also Turkish technology, were a spectacular failure. The message from New Delhi was unambiguous: any future misadventure will be treated as an act of war. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself confirmed at a rally in Bihar that Operation Sindoor was paused only after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) requested a ceasefire. “This is not over,” Modi warned. The External Affairs Ministry reiterated the same—India made no concessions, took no advice from any foreign power, and acted solely in its national interest. But what followed from Washington was a predictable farce. US President Donald Trump, in his trademark dramatic style, claimed credit for “stopping a nuclear war.” Days later, the White House backpedaled. The truth is plain: America’s real concern was not peace in South Asia—it was the fear that US-owned nuclear assets stored in Pakistan might get exposed or destroyed. If India had continued its surgical strikes, the world might have seen what Washington doesn’t want anyone to know: that Pakistan’s nukes aren’t entirely theirs. Trump’s subsequent tantrums—threatening tariffs, calling on Apple to pull out of India, and raising noise about manufacturing—were desperate distractions. India, under Modi, isn’t the India of 2005. We’re no longer intimidated by American lectures or trade blackmail. India has increased its defence budget significantly. Deliveries of S-400 systems from Russia and Rafale jets from France are on track. Indigenous missile production is ramping up with DRDO and HAL collaborating with the private sector. The Indian Air Force is being equipped not just for defence, but for dominance. The time for nuclear blackmail is over. So is the time for superpower sermonizing. Pakistan must understand that its days of using terrorism as a tool under a nuclear umbrella are gone. And America must understand that India will no longer tolerate being lectured while defending its sovereignty. Prime Minister Modi has made it clear: India will act when provoked, and it will act alone if needed. The message to Washington is simple—don’t overstep. The world no longer dances to your tune, especially when your own house is in chaos and your influence is in freefall. This isn’t 1999. This is New India. And New India doesn’t bluff—it acts.
