Pakistan on high alert over possible Indian attack

LONDONPakistan is preparing to be attacked militarily by India in the coming hours, according to the country's Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, who asserted that he has "credible intelligence information" to support the threat. His statements represent a further step in the diplomatic escalation that has kept the military forces of both countries on alert since last week. Since then, they have continued to maintain brief but significant skirmishes, with exchanges of fire with small arms along several points of the border that runs through the Kashmir region.

Tarar's comments come ten days after India accused Pakistan of supporting militants responsible for a terrorist attack in Kashmir administered by Delhi, which left 26 people dead. India will receive a sure and decisive response."

In an attempt to avoid what could be a new confrontation between two nuclear powers, the military directors of operations of India and Pakistan spoke by phone on Tuesday, according to the Indian news agency Del'it. Pakistan is blunt about the continuation of the skirmishes. The tension is such that in the border area the Pakistani authorities have begun to carry out emergency and rescue exercises among schoolchildren.

Last week, the United Nations called for "restraint" in both Delhi and Islamabad, fearing an Indian response to the terrorist attack, as happened in 2016 and 2019.

Indian authorities declared last week that they had conducted an investigation and detained more than 1,500 people for questioning. Since then, more arrests have been made, although the exact number is unknown. In addition, the army has demolished the homes of at least ten suspected militants responsible for the massacre, according to India. Initially, the attack was attributed to the so-called Resistance Front, but the group issued a statement denying any involvement. This front is allegedly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Islamist militants based in Pakistan.

The Pahalgam massacre has rekindled a historic conflict that flares up from time to time. The history between India and Pakistan has been marked by a conflict that began with the wars of 1947-1948 and 1965, centered precisely on the dispute over Kashmir. Since then, several clashes have followed, including the Kargil War of 1999 and numerous smaller episodes of tension. Since the partition of India following independence, Kashmir has remained a region divided between the two states. The part controlled by Delhi, covering 143,000 km², has a predominantly Muslim population (97%) of 12.5 million. The part under Pakistani control, Azad Kashmir, covers 13,000 km² and is home to around 4 million Muslims (99%).