Kashmir conflict: Pakistan’s prime minister announces reaction-concern about escalation

After attacks by the Indian military on several Pakistani goals, the situation on the subcontinent is still peaking dangerously. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said again after a meeting of the security cabinet in Islamabad, there would be a reaction to the Indian military campaign. Internationally, concern is growing from a renewed escalation of the conflict, and the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) also asked the conflict parties to keep a “cool head”.

According to the Pakistani military, 31 people died during rocket attacks, 57 were injured. Through artillery shot of the Pakistani army along the course of the border in the Indian -controlled part of the Unnuhergion Kashmir, several people in India died at night.

India claimed to have attacked several destinations in Pakistan at night and in the Pakistanically managed part of Kashmir. The attacks were carried out on “terrorist infrastructure”. A military spokeswoman in Neu-Delhi said nine “terrorist camps” were destroyed. This was not confirmed by Pakistan.

Prime Minister: Armed Forces are authorized to take measures

Pakistan reserves the right to react at a time and in a way of his choice, according to a message. “The Pakistani armed forces have been properly authorized to take appropriate measures.” He did not give details. In the region, concern is growing between the two nuclear powers.

With the attacks, India reacted to a terrorist attack on April 22nd in the Indian controlled part of Kashmir with 26 dead. The government in Neu-Delhi accuses Pakistan, Islamabad rejects the accusation.

Dead in fighting in the border region

After the air raids, fire fighting in the border region still started at night. The newspaper “The Indian Express” reported on its own sources of information, at least seven civilians, including two children, were killed by the fire in the Indian Union territory Jammu and Kashmir and 38 others were injured. Other media spoke of at least ten deaths. The government initially did not name any number of victims. Indian broadcasters showed pictures of destroyed buildings.

The army spoke of artillery fire on the military control line. This line, which is about 740 kilometers long, is considered a de facto limit and divides Kashmir between the two nuclear powers. Pakistan’s Premier Sharif also reported five Indian fighter jets. There was initially no confirmation by India.

According to the Indian government, the air strikes on the neighboring country served as part of the “Operation Sindoor” of prevention. “Our intelligence agencies, which are observed in Pakistan, indicated that there were further attacks on India,” said the State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vikram Misri. There was a need to deter and prevent.

The Kashmir region in the Himalayas is divided between Pakistan and India, but both nuclear powers claim the whole area for themselves. The origins of the conflict go back to the colonial period. In 1947 the British released the Indian subcontinent into independence and divided it. In addition to the predominantly Hindu India, the new state of Pakistan for Muslims emerged from the division. The violent division continues to feed a bitter rivalry to this day. Since their independence, both countries have waged three wars against each other, two of them around cashmere.

Pakistan closes airspace temporarily

After the attacks from India, Pakistan closed his airspace until afternoon. Flight operations at the Islamabad and Lahore airports were temporarily stopped, as a spokesman for the civil aviation authority of the German Press Agency announced. Schools remained closed in several parts of India and Pakistan. The province of Sindh in southeastern Pakistan also excluded the health emergency, according to the Pakistani news channel Geonews.

According to South Asia expert Michael Kugelman, the escalation potential is also dangerous compared to previous conflicts. “The Indian attack on Pakistan has a much greater extent than the 2019 attack,” writes the expert on the online platform X. This also applies to the shooting of several Indian fighter planes reported by Pakistan.

At that time, 40 people died in a difficult attack in the Indian part of Kashmir. India then withdrew the area to the area, and there were increasingly battles. In 2021, both countries initially agreed to hire the fights.

International concern about escalation

UN General Secretary António Guterres was “very concerned” after the attacks. “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” he said, according to a statement of his office. He called on both nuclear powers for military reluctance.

US President Donald Trump expressed his hope that the conflict between the two nuclear powers will not escalate. “I just hope that it will end very quickly,” Trump said at an event in the White House with a view of the attack. Foreign Minister Marco Rubio wrote on platform X that he would continue to point out both the Indian and Pakistani leadership.

Chancellor Merz said in Paris: “Praise and reason is required. Nobody in the region should be interested in another escalation.”

China asked both sides to restraint. The military campaign of India is regretted and a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Beijing said. While the Chinese-Indian relationship is considered to be extremely tense due to border conflicts in the Himalayas Mountains, Beijing maintains close economic relationships with Pakistan. In addition, a smaller part is under China’s control in the east of the Kashmir region.

Iran was also concerned and expressed hope that both sides could still de -escalate. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghtschi was in the Pakistani capital Islamabad to convey between the South Asian nuclear powers. Great Britain also offered to convey between the two countries that emerged from the British colonial kingdom.