From Nehru's kinship to Modi's firepower: India shifts tone on Pak

NEW DELHI: "Our neighbour is Pakistan, which is a part of us, part of our hearts and arms. How do we even think of fighting them? This is like harming ourselves. And, if they are aggressive, they will harm themselves. This is a strange relationship between India and Pakistan. Strange relationship where there is sorrow and anger but ultimately that relationship is so close and for thousands of years that laws can't eradicate it. And, if something harms India, it will definitely harm Pakistan as well," Jawaharlal Nehru told the nation from the Red Fort in 1957 on Independence Day.

Nearly seven decades later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday struck a markedly different note.

Signalling no rethink on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) under present circumstances, he declared that India will not distinguish between terrorists and their sponsors, pointing directly at Pakistan's leadership.

Prime Minister Modi underlined that the country would not succumb to "any sort of nuclear blackmail."

"The Indus Waters Treaty was an injustice to the people of India. The rivers of India were irrigating the enemy country while our own farmers were deprived of water. Now, the right over India's share of water belongs only to India and its farmers. A compromise on farmers' interests and national interests is not acceptable to us. Not anymore," he said. Modi added, "India will no longer tolerate nuclear blackmail. If the enemy dares to commit any more misadventure, the armed forces will give them a befitting reply. India has decided that blood and water will not flow together."

Recalling last month's strikes, Modi said, "Operation Sindoor was the expression of that outrage... Penetrating hundreds of kilometres into enemy territory, they reduced terrorist headquarters to dust... Pakistan is still sleepless."

This stark contrast captures the transformation in India's attitude towards Pakistan. PM Modi's language of deterrence and retaliation has replaced the earlier vocabulary of kinship and restraint. From invoking Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK in his 2016 speech to citing deep-penetration strikes in 2025, his addresses reflect a conscious break from decades of what he has called misplaced sentimentality.

By comparison, the Nehruvian era was shaped by reconciliation despite provocations. Nehru's framing of Pakistan as inseparable from India's "heart and arms" translated into policies like the IWT and territorial concessions under the Noon-Nehru Pact. Even in the face of aggression, he sought to preserve ties.

Indira Gandhi's decisive 1971 victory did not fundamentally alter that mindset. Returning 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war, according to experts, without securing a settlement on Kashmir reflected a continued view of Pakistan as a "brother". Rajiv Gandhi's Independence Day speeches largely bypassed Pakistan, centring instead on domestic modernisation.

Even after terror struck deep, restraint prevailed. In 2009, less than a year after the 26/11 attacks, Manmohan Singh's address spoke only of honouring "special assurances and concessions provided to J&K" - a line that avoided naming Pakistan directly. From Nehru's fraternity to Modi's firepower, the arc of Independence Day speeches reveals how India's strategic outlook on Pakistan - and China - has hardened from conciliatory sentiment to hard-nosed realism.