Pakistan readies for possibility of imminent Indian military attack

Pakistani Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday said he had credible intelligence indicating India was preparing for military action against Pakistan within days. Pakistan will respond decisively to any such action, Tarar told state-run media. The chief spokesman for the Pakistan Armed Forces, Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, also on Wednesday said India had activated proxies inside Pakistan for further attacks, Pakistan TV reported.

How did India respond to the accusations? Neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor his defense minister had responded directly as of Wednesday afternoon. But Modi gave India’s armed forces complete operational freedom to decide on a response to Pakistan, The Times of India reported. Meanwhile, the Indian army accused Pakistani forces of unprovoked small-arms fire from multiple army posts over the Line of Control in contested Kashmir on Tuesday night. Indian troops responded swiftly and proportionately, according to The Times of India. Pakistan said India started the firefight, according to Arab News PK.

Why are tensions so high between the two countries? A deadly terrorist attack in the contested Kashmir region led to a series of escalating tit-for-tat diplomatic responses. The tensions began April 22 when gunmen from the Pakistan-based group The Resistance Front killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Indian-controlled southern Kashmir. Pakistan denied any ties with The Resistance Front, while India blamed Pakistan for supporting terrorism.

India and Pakistan after the attack canceled visas for each other’s citizens, cut or recalled diplomatic staff, and closed land border crossings. Both countries suspended key bilateral agreements by April 24: India said it would stop participating in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which guarantees Pakistan most of its water, while Pakistan renounced the 1972 Simla Agreement to resolve disagreements through peaceful means. The now-suspended agreement also fixed the Line of Control in Kashmir.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on India and Pakistan’s diplomatic retaliations against each other for more details.