India-Pakistan tension high with missiles strikes on Pakistan

Islamabad, May 8 : India fired missiles at Pakistan early Wednesday, in what it said was retaliation for last month’s massacre of Indian tourists. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war and claimed it downed several Indian fighter jets.

The strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Pakistan’s military said the missiles hit six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s Punjab province and killed more than two dozen people, including children. Pakistan said it reserved the right to respond, raising the specter that the back-and-forth could spiral into all-out conflict. Already, it’s the worst confrontation between the rivals since 2019, when they came close to war.

Following the strikes, there was a heavy exchange of fire that officials in each country said left more people dead. Three planes fell onto villages in India-controlled territory, according to Indian police and residents, though it was not immediately clear if they were downed by Pakistan.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbours since an April attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir, in some cases killing men before their wives’ eyes.

India accuses Pakistan of being behind the attack, which was claimed by a militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance. India has said the group is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a disbanded Pakistani militant group.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.

In the wake of the massacre, the rivals have expelled each other’s diplomats and nationals, closed their borders and shuttered airspace. India has also suspended a critical water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the airstrikes and said his country would retaliate.

“Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,” Sharif said.

It was not clear if Pakistan’s claim that it shot down fighter jets constituted its retaliation or if more might be coming.

The country’s National Security Committee said Pakistan reserves the right to respond “in self-defense, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing.”

The statement said the strikes were carried out “on the false pretext of the presence of imaginary terrorist camps” and said they killed civilians.

South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said the strikes were some of the highest-intensity ones from India on its rival in years and that Pakistan’s response would “surely pack a punch as well.”

“These are two strong militaries that, even with nuclear weapons as a deterrent, are not afraid to deploy sizeable levels of conventional military force against each other,” Kugelman said. “The escalation risks are real. And they could well increase, and quickly.”

In 2019, the two countries came close to a war after a Kashmiri insurgent rammed an explosive-laden car into a bus carrying Indian soldiers, killing 40. India carried out airstrikes in Pakistani territory, and Pakistan shot down an Indian warplane and captured the pilot, later releasing him.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint because the world could not “afford a military confrontation” between India and Pakistan, according to a statement from spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

China also called for calm. Beijing is the largest investor in Pakistan by far and has multiple border disputes with India, including one in the northeastern part of the Kashmir region.

Pakistan’s National Security Committee met Wednesday morning. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and postponed his upcoming trip to Norway, Croatia and the Netherlands.

Several Indian states held civil defense drills Wednesday to train civilians and security personnel to respond in case of attack.(AP)