'The call that killed a strike': How Indira Gandhi nixed Israel’s Kahuta plan

Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh

Strike Pact

India and Israel quietly plotted a high-stakes airstrike on Pakistan’s Kahuta facility in the early '80s. The goal: cripple its nuclear ambitions before they could become regional threats.

Runway Alliance

Israeli fighter jets were to refuel on Indian soil. Jamnagar and Udhampur—normally low-profile—were prepped for a mission that could have changed South Asian history overnight.

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Indira Blinked

Indira Gandhi gave the green light—then yanked the plug. Faced with domestic unrest and fears of escalation, her reversal became one of the biggest “what ifs” in Indian military history.

Phone Warning

U.S. intel tipped off Pakistan. A blunt warning followed: any attack on Kahuta would trigger retaliatory strikes on Indian nuclear sites. One phone call derailed a two-nation war plan.

Kashmir Factor

With tensions already simmering in Punjab and Kashmir, Gandhi feared the strike would inflame separatist fires—and hand Pakistan a propaganda windfall.

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Missiles Only

Despite the nuclear target, the plan was entirely conventional. Bombs, missiles, jets—no nukes. The confusion likely stems from the reactor being a nuclear site, not the weapons used.

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Jaguar Backup

India’s Jaguar aircraft were meant to fly support, adding muscle to the Israeli strike squad. It was an unprecedented military collaboration—one that never took off.

Diplomatic Fallout

Had it gone ahead, the strike might’ve triggered U.S. sanctions or worse. India wasn’t just weighing bombs—it was bracing for Washington’s wrath.

Peace by Fear

By 1988, India and Pakistan signed a pact not to attack each other’s nuclear sites—a rare truce born from the ashes of a plan that nearly lit the subcontinent on fire.