Two explosions heard near an airport and an Indian army headquarters in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Source: Reuters

Macron calls for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Source: AFP

Taiwan’s porcupine strategy

Taiwan is urgently overhauling its military to prepare for a possible Chinese invasion by 2027, aiming to hold out long enough for U.S. intervention.

• Radars
• Anti-air systems
• Anti-ship missiles
• Mines
• Drones and portable weapons

Taiwan has developed early-warning systems with help from the U.S. The Pave Paws radar system.

Taiwan has Patriot missile launchers, a medium-range system, and increased production of missiles including the Sky Bow series.

The navy has two anti-ship missile brigades and several mobile units. A coming addition is the U.S.-made Harpoon coastal defense cruise missile, part of a 2020 arms deal.

Taiwan plans to purchase over 3,200 domestically produced drones over the next five years, following Ukraine’s model of using drones to harass a larger adversary.

President Lai Ching-te announced plans to increase military spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the year, facing opposition from lawmakers advocating better relations with Beijing.

Source: WSJ

Government of Pakistan:

Pakistan specifically targeted those Indian military installations from which attacks on Pakistan had been launched.

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif:

Pakistan is not currently considering the possibility of using its nuclear arsenal.

Kim Jong Un:

Our participation in the Russia-Ukraine war was justified.

Pakistani Kashmir government announces 11 civilians killed in overnight Indian bombings.

Source: AFP

Pakistan shows footage of its JF-17 Thunder jet taking off to hit Indian S-400 air defence system with Chinese-origin CM-400AKG hypersonic missiles in anti-radiation variant.

The missile features a passive radar guidance mode, allowing it to home in on radar emissions, making it effective against systems like India’s S-400.

Note that there's no visual evidence supporting Pakistan's claims for now. India denied that its S-400 was destroyed.

Pakistan Prime Minister Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says he has “avenged the innocent dead” with an “appropriate response” to India.

Source: AFP

India's PM Modi chairs high-level meeting with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and armed forces chiefs.

Trump says he can’t sleep because of the war in Ukraine.

Trump is struggling to fulfill his promise to quickly end the conflict.

During a closed meeting with major donors at his Florida club, Trump admitted that the Ukraine war keeps him up at night.

Source: WSJ

Germany to classify arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Berlin will no longer disclose details about military supplies to Ukraine, aiming for “strategic ambiguity” to complicate adversaries’ access to sensitive information.

Source: Spiegel

“This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally” by Thomas L. Friedman

Friedman argues that the current Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is no longer behaving as a U.S. ally, prioritizing annexation and territorial expansion over peace.

“This ultranationalist, messianic Israeli government is not America’s ally.”

“The notion that Israel has a government that is no longer behaving as an American ally, and should not be considered as such, is a shocking and bitter pill for Israel’s friends in Washington to swallow — but swallow it they must.”

“Netanyahu put his personal interests ahead of Israel’s and America’s.”

“Netanyahu’s plan to reinvade Gaza is not to stand up a moderate alternative to Hamas, led by the Palestinian Authority. It is for a permanent Israeli military occupation, whose unstated goal will be to pressure all Palestinians to leave.”

This approach risks creating a “permanent insurgency — Vietnam on the Mediterranean,” according to Friedman.

Friedman closes with a stark warning, quoting a recent Haaretz editorial about the human cost of the ongoing conflict:

“On Tuesday, the Israel Air Force killed nine children, between the ages of 3 and 14… None of this will change the bitter fact: Israel killed them. Our hands did this. We must not avert our eyes. We must wake up and cry out loudly: Stop the war.”

He urges President Trump to distance himself from Netanyahu’s government to preserve the U.S.-Arab-Israeli alliance and avoid being complicit in potential war crimes.

Source: NYT

BREAKING: India targeted Pakistan’s Bholari Air Base.

Smoke visible.

NEW: Chinese delegation left trade negotiations with the US in Switzerland, unclear if talks will continue.