Pakistan and India fired missiles at each other Saturday, prompting U.S. calls for the nuclear-armed neighbours to begin talks to defuse their escalating most intense conflict since 1999.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Hindu Indian tourists, on April 22. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.
Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s foreign minister, said his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks, but warned that if India launched any strikes, “our response will follow.”
Dar told Pakistan’s Geo News he also conveyed this message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who contacted him after Rubio spoke to New Delhi earlier.
“We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping,” Dar added.
India said it targeted Pakistani airbases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the country’s Punjab state early Saturday.
Pakistan earlier said it intercepted most missiles and retaliatory strikes on India were underway.
In a G7 statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S., Britain and the European Union said they “strongly condemn” an April 22 Islamist militant attack in which 26 people were killed in India-administered Kashmir.
Rubio spoke to his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, and emphasized “both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Saturday, and offered U.S. support to facilitate “productive discussion.”
India says it’s committed to ‘non-escalation’
Indian Col. Sofiya Qureshi, at a news conference in New Delhi, said Pakistan targeted health facilities and schools at its three airbases in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” she said.
Wing Cmdr. Vyomika Singh, who was also at the news conference, said India was committed to “non-escalation” provided that Pakistan reciprocated.
However, Pakistani ground forces were observed mobilizing toward forward areas, she said, “indicating an offensive intent to further escalate the situation.”
“Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness,” she added.
Tensions between India and Pakistan are rising again, with flight suspensions, blackouts and dozens of deaths. Both sides are trading blame – while global leaders call for calm.
Singh said Indian armed forces carried out “precision strikes only at identified military targets in response to Pakistani actions,” which included technical infrastructure, command and control centres, radar sites and weapon storage areas to ensure “minimum collateral damage.”
“All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded to appropriately,” said Singh.
The Pakistani military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and airbases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur.
The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India.
Lt.-Gen. Ahmad Sharif, a Pakistani army spokesperson, said the country’s air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes.
State-run Pakistan Television reported Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the National Command Authority, which oversees the country’s missile program and other strategic assets.
Indian missiles targeted Nur Khan airbase in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid airbase in Chakwal city and Rafiqui airbase in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province on Saturday, according to Pakistan’s military spokesperson.
There was no media access to the airbase in Rawalpindi, a densely populated city, and no immediate reports of residents hearing or seeing the strike or its aftermath.
Explosions in India-controlled Kashmir
Following the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places in the region, including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.
“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.”
Vaid said explosions were heard from areas with military bases, adding it appeared army sites were being targeted.
Srinagar appeared calm early Saturday, but some residents in neighbourhoods close to the city’s airport, which is also an airbase, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of fighter jets.
“I was already awake, but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. They started crying,” said Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin, adding he heard at least two explosions.
Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group for India, said the two countries were at war even if they had not yet labelled it as one.
“It’s become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship with no apparent strategic end goals from either side,” said Donthi. “With increasing civilian casualties on both sides, finding an exit or off-ramp is going to be challenging.”
India and Pakistan have traded strikes and heavy cross-border fire for days, resulting in civilian casualties on both sides.
