Pakistan has pledged to respond following India’s strikes on multiple targets overnight, in reaction to the previous month’s lethal assault on tourists in Kashmir. Analysts worry that this long-standing dispute might escalate beyond containment.
India’s strikes overnight
on what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir mark a severe escalation in a decades-old conflict that has flared up after a deadly attack in India-administered Kashmir last month.
That attack
This incident, which resulted in the deaths of 26 predominantly Indian Hindu tourists, stands as the most lethal attack on civilians in India since 2008. It has ignited a significant intensification of tensions between the two neighboring nuclear powers in South Asia.
Pakistani authorities said Wednesday that India’s strikes killed at least 26 people, including at least four children, and injured 46 others.
“Pakistan’s civilian population must understand that an attack like this will not remain unaddressed. Those behind such a despicable action will face consequences,” stated Defence Minister Khawaja Asif of Pakistan.
Asif countered that every location India had attacked was “civilian” and rejected New Delhi’s assertions about the targets being terrorist sites, labeling them as “completely unfounded and nothing but falsehoods.”
Pakistan vows ‘full’ retaliation
Pakistani officials reported that their troops brought down several of India’s combat aircraft.
“Our troops have already countered the aggression by shooting down five of their fighter planes and a combat drone. Do not underestimate Pakistan’s reaction; it will be comprehensive, likely even greater than their actions,” Asif cautioned.
In a statement Wednesday after a meeting of its National Security Council, Pakistan said it “reserves the right to respond (…) to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives” in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
“India violated our sovereignty, and we have a right to self defense. We will give India a befitting response as they targeted our women and children,” Aqeel Malik, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Law and Justice, told .
Dr Marco Longobardo, Reader in International Law at the University of Westminster, said India’s attack is “unlawful under international law.”
He stated that according to the UN Charter, countries have the right to employ military force for self-defense when faced with an armed assault. He also noted that this retaliation should be proportional and absolutely essential.
“India allegedly used armed force in response to a terrorist attack that terminated several days ago. Accordingly, the response is not strictly necessary, but rather, it has a punitive goal and, ultimately, it is unlawful,” Longobardo told .
Work stoppages ignite concerns over escalating military conflicts.
The Indian strikes on targets in Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, mark the first such attacks since their last full-scale war over 50 years ago, raising concerns that military hostilities could spiral out of control.
Amit Ranjan, a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, stated that he thinks “the conflict will intensify” and that resolving the issue hinges on the extent to which “both nations choose to exacerbate” this incident.
Elizabeth Threlkeld, who leads the South Asia program at the Washington-based Stimson Center, concurred that this event represents the most noteworthy confrontation between the two nuclear-armed adversaries in quite some time.
She highlighted that the strikes targeted Punjab, which is deep within Pakistani borders, as well as areas near mosques where “casualties among civilians were reported.”
“The risk of escalation is significant, especially considering early indications of swift reprisal from Pakistan and the potential shooting down of aircraft,” Threlkeld stated.
The international law specialist Longobardo stated that even though Pakistan has the legal right to respond, its reaction should be “measured and essential.”
He stated that both India and Pakistan should resolve their conflict through peaceful means and avoid any additional use of military force.
Longobardo emphasized that the claims made by India and Pakistan echo the illegitimate discourse of self-defense through punitive measures, which needs to be rejected. This opposition stems from both the fact that such actions violate international law and their potential to provoke further escalation.
Appeals to halt additional escalation
Besides the nighttime strikes, India and Pakistan have recently experienced severe shelling and heavy firing across large portions of their unofficial borderline in the contested area, as reported by police and eyewitnesses to Reuters.
India charges Pakistan with backing militant incursions into Indian territory and across the Line of Control, the unofficial boundary dividing the contested Kashmir area, which both nations assert complete control over. Pakistan refutes these claims.
Maleeha Lodhi, a Pakistani diplomat who previously held the position of ambassador to the United States, the United Kingdom, and the UN, stated that “it is crucial to control the current situation because further escalation in a nuclear setting poses significant dangers.”
The global community, encompassing entities like the EU, UN, and US, has called upon both sides to alleviate the escalating tensions.
The United States stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio communicated with national security officials from both India and Pakistan, urging them to keep channels of communication open and prevent any escalation.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has said that he hopes the fighting “ends very quickly,” calling the flare up “a shame.”
Lodhi indicated that a US involvement could be necessary to stop a “significant escalation.”
She stated that previous conflicts between India and Pakistan were always resolved with the help of the United States.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
Author: Haroon Janjua (in Islamabad)
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