India has started its war strategies with right earnest, and Pakistan said that it has “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action soon, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalate following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir. Both countries have activated their war machinery to counter any surprise attack
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the U.S. to press India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asked both nations to “de-escalate tensions,”
In the April 22 attack, the Islamist assailants segregated men, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 people, officials and survivors said.
India has identified the three attackers, including two Pakistani nationals, as “terrorists” waging a violent revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.
India accuses Islamic Pakistan of funding and encouraging militancy in Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both nations but ruled in part by them.
The old rivals, born out of the partition of British colonial India in 1947, have taken measures against each other since the attack, with India putting the critical Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines. Later, India also shut down its airspace for any Pakistan aircraft.
Pakistan’s government said it had “credible intelligence” that India intends to carry out military action against it in the “next 24-36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident.”
In a separate phone call on, the State Department spokesperson said that Rubio spoke with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, reaffirming “the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism.”
The statement from Sharif’s office said the prime minister expressed regret that India had chosen to “weaponize water”, and stressed that the Indus Waters Treaty did not permit unilateral withdrawal from its commitments.
India shut its airspace to Pakistani airlines on Wednesday, New Delhi said, days after Pakistan banned Indian airlines from flying over its territory.
Islamabad said it condemned terrorism in all forms and will respond “assuredly and decisively” to any military action from India, including the nuclear option.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue and punish the Pahalgam attackers.
India’s cabinet committee on security (CCS), consisting of Modi and his interior, defence, foreign, home, and finance ministers, also met on Wednesday, its second session since the April 22 attack. Modi told his military chiefs earlier this week that they have the freedom to decide the country’s response to the Pahalgam attack, a government source said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in separate phone calls with India and Pakistan, stressed the need to “avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences.”
Britain has called for calm between its Indian and Pakistani communities, and advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir. China said it supports Pakistan in its hour of crisis.
