India-Pakistan Conflict Escalates as Missile Exchanges Continue

Tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan intensified Thursday as both nations accused each other of launching new attacks, just one day after India’s unprecedented missile strikes into Pakistani territory. The rapidly deteriorating situation has triggered international alarm, with world powers including the United States, Russia, and China calling for restraint as casualties mount on both sides.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared that further retaliation was “increasingly certain” following Wednesday’s Indian strikes, which Pakistan says killed at least 26 people including civilians. The conflict, which began after a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, represents the most serious military confrontation between the two countries in decades.

New Wave of Cross-Border Attacks

India reported Thursday that several of its military stations had been targeted by Pakistani drones and missiles, according to Reuters. The attacks came as tensions continued to escalate following India’s “Operation Sindoor,” in which missiles were fired at six locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province early Wednesday.

In response to Wednesday’s strikes, Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets “in a dogfight,” according to statements from Pakistan’s defense chief. Indian authorities have not confirmed these claims, though CNN reported debris from aircraft was visible in the compound of a mosque at Pampore in the Pulwama district of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The U.S. Consulate General in Pakistan’s Lahore ordered staff to shelter in place as the situation deteriorated, and several commercial airlines suspended flights to both countries. Villagers along the Line of Control – the de facto border in Kashmir – have been evacuated from areas most at risk of artillery fire.

Tourist Massacre Triggered Escalation

The current crisis began after an April 22 attack in which gunmen killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam, a popular destination in Indian-administered Kashmir. The incident, in which attackers reportedly separated men from women before shooting them, was the deadliest attack on Indian civilians in almost two decades.

India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, accusing it of supporting militants operating in Kashmir. During a press briefing on Wednesday, Indian military officials displayed a timeline of deadly attacks on Indian soil they claim were backed by Pakistan, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which more than 160 people were killed, according to Al Jazeera.

Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack and has called for a “neutral” investigation. Following the massacre, both countries closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines, suspended or revoked some visas for each other’s nationals, and halted cross-border trade.

Military Operations and Casualties

The Indian military described Wednesday’s strikes as precision operations targeting “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. However, footage from the strikes showed several buildings, including a mosque and religious school, damaged or on fire, with civilians among the casualties.

Pakistan’s military reported that 57 flights were in the air when India launched its attack early Wednesday, putting thousands of passengers at risk. “There were multiple flights that were in the air at the time and the lives of the thousands of passengers on them were put in danger,” Pakistan’s military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a statement.

Indian police and medical sources reported that at least seven civilians were killed in Indian-controlled Kashmir by Pakistani shelling, as both sides exchanged small-arms fire along the 460-mile de facto border running through the disputed region.

Nuclear Concerns Heighten International Alarm

The conflict between two nuclear-armed nations has triggered significant international concern. Both countries separately acquired nuclear weapons in the 1990s, leading observers to warn that any conventional military conflict risks potentially catastrophic escalation.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged both nations to “de-escalate tensions” in separate calls with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, according to a State Department statement.

World powers have emphasized the need for diplomatic solutions, with particular concern over the potential for miscalculation in what has long been considered one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear flashpoints. The relationship between India and Pakistan has been fraught with tension since they gained independence from colonial Britain in 1947, with three wars fought between them, two over Kashmir.

Domestic Politics Fuel Conflict

Analysts note that domestic political considerations in both countries may be complicating efforts to de-escalate the crisis. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Asif has insisted that his country’s military is braced “for an all-out war” after India raised the “stakes” of the conflict.

“What happens next is we are prepared for an all-out war. There is absolutely no doubt, because India is increasing the intensity, the stakes of this conflict,” Asif told CNN. However, he also assured that Pakistan would “only hit military targets in India, not civilian” and would “abide by international law.”

Tensions have been particularly high in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the region’s constitutional autonomy, bringing it under the direct control of New Delhi. The Muslim-majority region has been a flashpoint between the two nations for decades, with both countries claiming the territory in its entirety while controlling only portions of it.