The conflict between Pakistan and India could escalate into a nuclear standoff. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned about this on the Al Jazeera TV channel.
“The world community should pay attention to this dangerous dispute, which could escalate into a nuclear standoff. Both countries are nuclear powers,” the minister said.
On April 22, armed men carried out a terrorist attack in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam (Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir). 25 Indian citizens and 1 Nepalese were killed, many were injured. The attackers managed to escape. Indian intelligence services have found evidence of the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence in the attack by terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba group in Pahalgam, The Hindustan Times reported, citing sources.
The Indian government has almost halved the number of its embassy staff in Islamabad, declared the military advisers of the Pakistani diplomatic mission personae non gratae, and closed the key Attari checkpoint on the border. The Indian government has also suspended the agreement with Islamabad on the distribution of water resources and the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens.