Skip to main content

Two nuclear powers — India and Pakistan — are teetering on the edge of a major conflict after Pakistan said it had shot down two Indian military planes and captured one of the pilots.

 

Pakistan's downing of two Indian MiG-21 fighter jets Wednesday capped a day of skirmishes in Kashmir. Both countries claim ownership over the region, which is divided into Indian- and Pakistani-administered areas. Pakistan said it had conducted “strikes” on the Indian-controlled side before responding to the Indian jets, which had crossed into Pakistani airspace in retaliation.

Pakistan Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor published a photo depicting the captured Indian soldier recovered from one of the downed planes. He said the pilot is "being treated as per norms of military ethics.” The country's information ministry had previously posted a video to social media in which the pilot, his face bloodied, was blindfolded but deleted it after India complained it was a "vulgar display of an injured personnel." 

Tuesday saw the first Indian airstrikes on Pakistani territory since a war between the long-embattled countries ended with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Pakistan then asserted India killed six civilians by firing mortar rounds across the Line of Control dividing the two sectors of Kashmir. The two countries' ground forces have exchanged fire across the boundary in about a dozen locations in recent days.

The increased tensions started last week when the Pakistani Islamist terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed at least 40 paramilitary police in a suicide bombing of a police convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammad aims to wrest control of Indian-controlled Kashmir and unite it with Pakistan under sharia.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged calm on both sides, encouraging the two nuclear powers "to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost.”

Meanwhile, India announced a “red alert” Wednesday for the entire New Delhi metro system, according to the Times of India. The alert means that station controllers are required to inspect premises for suspicious activity, reporting to the main control center every two hours.

India and Pakistan, which both possess nuclear weapons, have fought three wars since independence and partition from the United Kingdom in 1947. This is the largest military escalation in 20 years

https://www.washingtonexaminer...brink-of-all-out-war

Original Post

Add Reply

Post

Untitled Document
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×