Tensions escalate as Pakistan claims India is planning imminent military action following the Pahalgam terror attack, warning of serious consequences.
Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it has "credible intelligence" that India is planning military action against it within the next 24 to 36 hours, and warned New Delhi that there would be consequences.
The sharp statement came just hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a high-level meeting with the country’s top defence leadership on Tuesday, granted the armed forces “complete operational freedom” to determine the mode, timing, and targets of India’s response to last week’s terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, government sources said.
Tensions have escalated sharply between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the deadly attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Prime Minister Modi had vowed that India would “identify, track, and punish” the terrorists and their “backers”, and pursue them to the “ends of the earth” as New Delhi launched a diplomatic offensive against Islamabad.
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Responding to the Indian posture, Pakistan's Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused India of preparing for military action based on “baseless and concocted allegations” about Islamabad’s involvement in the attack.
“Pakistan has itself been a victim of terrorism and has always condemned it in all its forms and manifestations,” Tarar said, according to the statement. He added that Islamabad had offered a “credible, transparent and independent” probe by a neutral commission of experts, and accused India of evading investigation and choosing a confrontational path.
Urging global attention, Pakistan warned the international community to “remain alive” to the situation and cautioned that any Indian “military adventurism” would be “responded to assuredly and decisively.” The statement further added that the “onus of any escalatory spiral and its consequences shall squarely lie with India.”
Meanwhile, India has already announced a series of punitive measures against Pakistan. These include the expulsion of Pakistani military attachés, suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, cancellation of all visas issued to Pakistani nationals from April 27, and the immediate closure of the Attari land-transit point.
