Pakistan Braced For India Military Strike

Pakistan has said it has "credible intelligence" that India will launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours.

The comment was made on Wednesday by Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He claimed India's strike would come "on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident."

Newsweek has contacted the Indian Foreign Ministry for comment.

The Context

Tarar's comments come after New Delhi accused Pakistan of supporting militants behind an attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, that killed 26 tourists. Islamabad has rejected India's allegations.

Tarar said that Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism and had been open to an independent investigation but "rather than pursuing the path of reason, India has apparently decided to tread the dangerous path of irrationality and confrontation."

What To Know

The attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam was the deadliest attack on civilians in two decades.

Tarar's remarks followed reports that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given his country's armed forces "complete operational freedom" to decide on how to respond to the attack after meeting senior government ministers and military commanders on Tuesday.

However, Tarar said that Pakistan reiterates "such military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively."

"The international community must remain alive to the reality that the onus of escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India," Tarar's post added.

The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars over the mountainous territory that is divided by a de-facto border called the Line of Control.

India conducted airstrikes inside Pakistan in 2019 following an insurgent attack on paramilitary personnel inside Indian-administered Kashmir. Last week's attack on tourists in the region has sparked fears that India might respond in a similar way.

What People Are Saying

Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan's Broadcasting and Information Minister on Wednesday: "Pakistan reiterates that any such military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively. The international community must remain alive to the reality that the onus of escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India."

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Tuesday: "We are reaching out to both parties, and telling, of course, them to not escalate the situation."

What Happens Next

With tensions on a knife edge and Modi vowing last week to pursue the attackers "to the ends of the earth," diplomacy will try to ease the escalating tit-for-tat exchange of hostilities between the two countries.

Bruce said Tuesday that Washington has called for calm and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will speak to his counterparts in India and Pakistan to ease tensions. China, which claims control of part of Kashmir has also called for restraint.