Pakistan claims India planning to attack within 36 hours as tension between nuclear-armed neighbors soars

New Delhi — Every week after 26 folks had been killed in a terrorist assault in Kashmir, concern was mounting over a doable navy conflict between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan. Pakistan’s authorities claimed late Tuesday night time that it had “credible intelligence” that India was planning to take navy motion inside hours in retaliation for the April 22 terrorist assault, which Indian officers blame on Pakistani-backed militants.

“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends finishing up navy motion towards Pakistan within the subsequent 24-36 hours on the pretext of concocted and baseless allegations of involvement within the Pahalgam incident,” Pakistan’s Data Minister Attaullah Tarar stated at a midnight information convention.

The remarks got here hours after Indian media reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the nation’s armed forces “full operational freedom to determine on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the phobia assault.”

Modi had met with senior authorities ministers and navy commanders behind closed doorways on Tuesday night to debate the response to the assault, which noticed at the least 26 folks — 25 of them vacationers — killed in a rampage by gunmen in Indian Kashmir’s picturesque Pahalgam space.

India shortly accused Pakistan of involvement within the assault. Islamabad flatly denied any accountability and provided to hold out an investigation.

“Pakistan has nothing to do with this incident. Interval.” Pakistan’s Overseas Minister Ishaq Dar advised journalists Tuesday, calling such allegations “baseless, preposterous, and politically motivated.”

Dar stated Pakistan was dedicated to peace, however its “armed forces are totally alert. Any misadventure might be met with a befitting and resolute response.”

The April 22 terrorist assault was claimed by a bit of identified group that calls itself the Kashmir Resistance, however there was no method to corroborate the declare made on social media.

Simply days after the vacationers had been killed within the widespread trip space, India took a variety of non-military measures towards Pakistan, calling off a key water sharing pact, downgrading diplomatic relations, and asking Pakistani nationals to depart the nation. Pakistan introduced related, reciprocal measures a day later.

Kashmir is claimed in full by each India and Pakistan, however every nation has managed its personal portion of the mountainous area for many years. The 2 nations have fought three wars over the area, which is now divided by a de-facto border known as the Line of Management (LoC).

Indian and Pakistani navy forces within the area have exchanged gunfire throughout the LoC repeatedly during the last six days.

The scenic Himalayan area has been hit commonly by militant violence since an armed anti-Indian insurgency started in 1989. The simmering battle has claimed tens of hundreds of lives over greater than three many years.