Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted since New Delhi blamed its arch-rival Pakistan for last week’s assault on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, the deadliest attack on civilians there in a quarter of a century.
Pakistan’s government has denied any involvement in the shooting, and information minister Attaullah Tarar said overnight that “any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response”.
However, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also said Pakistan would not strike first.
Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of around 15 million people, is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed in full by both nations.
“We are cleaning the bunker to ensure that if the enemy attacks at any time, we are not caught off guard and we can bring our children to safety,“ 42-year-old Muhammad Javed told AFP in the village of Chakothi.
India’s military said on Wednesday it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops for a sixth straight night across the Line of Control (LoC), a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts that represents the de facto Kashmir border.
Since the Pahalgam attack there have been tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs, expulsion of citizens and border crossings shut.
“I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,“ he said on Thursday.
The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls for restraint from several nations.
UN chief Antonio Guterres held calls on Tuesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he “offered his Good Offices to support de-escalation”, his spokesman said in a statement.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange meanwhile fell on Wednesday, with analysts attributing investor anxiety to potential Indian military action.
India and Pakistan have fought over the former princely state since their independence from British rule in 1947, with the border splitting generations of families.
Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men accused of carrying out the Kashmir attack -- two Pakistanis and an Indian -- who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.
The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.
Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.
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