Overview
- The Indian Air Force confirmed Syal’s death and set up a court of inquiry, with state and military honours planned for his funeral in Kangra on Sunday.
- The jet went down around 2:10 pm at Al Maktoum airport during a low-level roll, with witnesses saying the pilot could not eject; a video from earlier shows him with MoS Defence Sanjay Seth and Indian diplomats.
- Army Chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi framed recent violence as Pakistani proxy tactics, linked the Delhi blast to that strategy, and said Operation Sindoor destroyed nine sites in 22 minutes after years of preparation.
- In the operation’s civic follow-through, Army medical teams ran an advanced eye-care mission that screened over 1,500 people and completed more than 2,000 surgeries across Jammu and Kashmir’s border districts.
- Public discourse widened as poets headlined an “Operation Sindoor” session in Delhi, CJI B.R. Gavai highlighted his judgment against bulldozer demolitions, and leaders such as Priyanka Chaturvedi condemned Pakistan-based social media mockery.