Islamabad - (Saba):
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that "Pakistan has reliable intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within 24 to 36 hours."
Tarar warned via his Twitter account that "any aggressive action will be met with a decisive response," stressing that "India will bear full responsibility for any dire consequences in the region."
The Jammu and Kashmir region, at the heart of the long-running dispute between India and Pakistan, is witnessing a new wave of escalation following an armed attack targeting civilians and tourists in the Pahalgam area, which left 26 people dead, according to Indian media.
This attack coincided with escalating security and political tensions in the region, which has been experiencing decades of tensions over demands for secession or integration with Pakistan, amid mutual accusations between the two countries of supporting armed groups in the region.
According to reports, a group called the "Kashmir Resistance" claimed responsibility for the attack, justifying the operation by its rejection of the settlement policies implemented by the Indian authorities. This refers to the influx of more than 85,000 people from outside the region, which it considers an attempt to change the demographic composition of the region.
The latest attack is not the first of its kind. Kashmir has witnessed similar attacks in recent years, most notably in June 2024, when nine people were killed and dozens injured in an attack on a bus carrying Hindus.
Amid this complex situation, the Indian government took extensive strategic and diplomatic measures against Pakistan, including suspending the Indus River Water-Sharing Agreement, closing land crossings, and reducing diplomatic representation, in what it described as a strong response to what it described as a "terrorist attack."
The Pakistan-India border in Kashmir witnesses occasional clashes between the armed forces of the two countries, amid a diminishing political horizon for finding a sustainable political solution to the issue.
| more of (International) |