India-Pakistan tensions escalate after deadly Kashmir attack
“Gunfire Along LoC: India-Pakistan Tensions Boil Over After Militant Attack”
MUMBAI — Tensions between South Asia’s two nuclear-armed powers ratcheted up
Thursday after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to pursue “to the ends of the earth” those behind a militant attack on Tuesday that killed 26 people in India-administered Kashmir.
“I say to the whole world: India will identify,
track and punish every terrorist and their backers,” Modi said in English during a rally in the northern state of Bihar.
The tensions began rising after India pointed the blame at Pakistan for Tuesday’s deadly attack,
in which gunmen ambushed tourists in a scenic meadow in Pahalgam and killed 26 men,
mostly Hindus. Eyewitnesses told Indian media that in some cases,
the gunmen asked their victims if they were Muslims before killing them.
India linked the attack to Pakistan after a group called Kashmir Resistance claimed responsibility on Telegram.
India sees the group as a front for a militant group that it claims is backed by Pakistan’s military.
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar denied Pakistani involvement in a press conference Thursday.
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar denied Pakistani involvement in a press conference Thursday. “India has time and again played the blame game,” he said, “and if there is proof of Pakistan’s involvement, please share it with us and the world.”
Indian officials and media noted the attack came days after Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Asim Munir described Kashmir as his country’s “jugular vein.” Both Pakistan and India control parts of the Himalayan territory. Both countries claim it in its entirety, and have gone to war over Kashmir multiple times.
On Wednesday, India’s foreign secretary announced a series of moves to pressure Pakistan, including expelling diplomats, shuttering a border crossing and crucially, suspending a decades-old water treaty between the two countries.
