After hits ■ Before 1 major Arifwala Air Defence Radar NAGAPATTINAM l monday l may 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION After Before ■ Director General of Military Operations Lt General Rajiv Ghai (2nd from left) with Air Marshal A K Bharti, Vice Admiral A N Pramod, and Major General S S Sharda | pti India rejects Trump offer to mediate in J&K J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi INDIA has rejected US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue, making it clear that the only issue on the table is Pakistan vacating the territory it illegally occupies in PoK. Government sources said India sees no role for external intervention in the matter. “We have a very clear position on Kashmir, there is only one matter left- the retur n of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). There is nothing else to talk. If they talk about handing over terrorists, we can talk. We don’t want anyone to mediate. We don’t need anyone to mediate.” The Indian position is that the whole of Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I am going to increase trade substantially with both of these great Nations. I will work with you both to see if, after a “thousand years,” a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir.” India’s iron fist crushed Pak’s high hopes: Forces At least 100 Pak terrorists killed in May 7 strikes; all Indian pilots safe M AYA N K S I N GH @ New Delhi indian forces inflicted heavy losses to the Pakistan side via Operation Sindoor by destroying key military installations and downing fighter jets, apart from razing down nine identified terrorist camps, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said on Sunday . Giving details of Operation Sindoor at a detailed media briefing in New Delhi on Sunday evening, attended by senior military officials of the Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, the DGMO said that India achieved its desired objectives and Pakistan will have to pay a very heavy price if it resorts to any misadventure. Lt Gen Ghai said over 100 terrorists, including high-value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, who were involved in the hijacking of IC 814 and the Pulwama blast, were eliminated during Operation Sindoor. He said all Indian pilots DAY 5 are safe while Pakistan lost 3540 Pakistani military personnel in the three-day combat. The military officials, however, did not comment on the losses on the Indian side, saying it would give an advantage to the adversary . “We are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of combat. The question to be asked is have we achieved our objectives of decimating the terrorist camps? The answer is a thumping yes. At this time I would not like to comment on the numbers, which platforms did we lose? We are still in a combat situation. If I comment, it will be advantageous. All our pilots are back home,” said Air Marshal A K Bharti. In response to a question, Air Marshal A K Bharti said India “definitely” downed a few Pakistani planes but refused to con- fir m the numbers. “Their planes were prevented from coming inside our border. So we do not have the wreckage with us but definitely we have downed a few planes,” he said. The officials stressed that Indian forces were extra careful not to inflict any casualties on civilians, and they stuck to this policy even though it meant some tactical disadvantage to the Indian side. Vice Admiral AN Pramod, DGNO said, “Along with kinetic actions by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force, the overwhelming operational edge of Indian Navy at sea contributed towards Pakistan’s urgent request for a ceasefire.” Inside Rajnath inaugurates Brahmos unit | P6 Cong seeks special Parl session | P9 India to present evidence to UNSC | P9 2 Chaklala Airfield After ■ 3 Sargodha Airfield (Where F16 jets were parked) Air Marshal AK Bharti, during a joint press briefing with defence officials on Sunday, showed detailed video of the effects of Indian Air Force operations during its air raids at Arifwala air defence radar in Pakistan, the Chaklala airfield and Sargodha Sargodha is designated as a “Major Operational Base” and reportedly houses Pakistan’s F-16s Other targets in Pakistan hit by IAF were Murid, PAF base at Rafiqui and units at Lahore and Gujranwala India cautions Pak against misadventures that killed 26 civilians, the operation targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and INDIA has drawn a PoK. red line in its security Prime Minister posture with PakiNarendra Modi, acstan: any provocation cording to sources, will trigger a sharper, gave the armed forcmore forceful re es a clear directive: sponse. “If they fire, “Wahan se goli chalewe fire”— that’s the gi, toh yahan se gonew normal, sources len chalenge” (If bulsaid, following the lets come from there, Wahan se cross-border strikes artillery shells will goli chalegi, under Operation Sin- yahan se gole be fired from here). door, which they emSources said India chalenge (If phasised is still on. is deter mined to bullets come , “Operation Sindoor raise the cost of shells will has not concluded, cross-border terrorbe fired) there is a new normal ism, making it clear Narendra Modi in India’s response to that Pakistan cannot cross-border terrorism,” selectively seek cooperation said sources familiar with while continuing to shelter the matter. Launched after a n d s u p p o r t t e r r o r the Pahalgam terror attack networks. J ayan t h J a c o b & M ayan k s i n g h @ New Delhi CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ `612 cr for 8 lines Rly allots `6.7K cr for TN this year; works stalled for 20 yrs to resume B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai After facing severe backlash from both rail passengers and the ruling DMK government over inadequate funding for new lines and doubling projects last year, the Railways significantly enhanced its budget allocation for 2025-26. A total of `612.8 crore has been earmarked for eight new line projects, compared to `339 crore the previous year. Among these, the NagariTindivanam new line project, for which 95% of land has already been acquired, received `347 crore. A total of `6,626 crore was allocated for Tamil Nadu for 2025-26. The funding details were obtained through an RTI request filed by TNIE and activist Dayanand Krishnan, as the Railways have stopped publishing the Pink Book, which traditionally disclosed the annual budget allocations. The Madurai-Thoothukudi (via Aruppukottai) project (143.5 km), for which the land acquisition unit was dismantled last year for want of funds, has been allotted `55.2 crore. Notably, the long-delayed Erode-Palani new line, which has existed only on paper for nearly 20 years, received `50 crore. The Chennai-Cuddalore new line via Mahabalipuram was also granted `52.1 crore. Allocation for doubling projects has also shown significant improvement.  P5