Pakistan’s prime minister said his country has “avenged the blood of innocent lives” after launching retaliatory missile strikes on India overnight.
Shehbaz Sharif described the attacks as a “befitting response” to Indian strikes on Pakistan, which were carried out on Wednesday after a deadly terror attack in Indian Kashmir last month.
Mr Sharif’s comments came after Pakistan’s foreign minister said Islamabad would consider de-escalation if India does not carry out any further attacks.
“We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping,” Ishaq Dar said.
The Pakistani prime minister had vowed to take revenge for “every drop” of blood spilt by India after Wednesday’s attack, in which 26 people were reported to have been killed.
Pakistan’s military described this morning’s strikes as a “counterattack”, saying India had fired missiles at three of its air bases.
India said Pakistan targeted more than 26 Indian military sites, and that they damaged equipment and injured personnel at bases in Udhampur, Bhuj, Pathankot, and Bathinda.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, has joined G7 ministers in calling for an “immediate de-escalation” between India and Pakistan.
A statement issued on Saturday morning said: “We, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the high representative of the European Union, strongly condemn the egregious terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 and urge maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan.
“Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability.
“We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome.
“We continue to monitor events closely and express our support for a swift and lasting diplomatic resolution.”
Was that enough? Pakistan and India are edging perilously close to the outbreak of all-out war.
The last time conflict between the two neighbours involved the kinds of strikes we saw last night was in the war of 1971, which ended with the formation of an independent Bangladesh.
At around 3am local time, as Indian air strikes hit three Pakistani air bases, it looked like things could quickly spiral out of control. Pakistani jets took off immediately and hit back at Indian bases across the border.
Then, the pendulum teetered.
But several hours later it looks like both sides are pulling back from the brink – at least for today.
Indian Col Sofiya Qureshi told a news conference in Delhi that a “befitting reply” has been given to Pakistan with the overnight strikes. Shehbaz Sharif repeated the language, saying Islamabad had given a “befitting” response that “avenged the blood” spilt in the initial Indian strike on May 7.
The major difference between now and 1971, of course, is that neither side then possessed nuclear weapons. Today they do.
The next rung up from here on the so-called ‘escalation ladder’ looks, frankly, terrifying. Perhaps neither side wants to be the first to take it.
Pakistan’s defence minister said striking India with nuclear weapons was a “distant possibility”.
“This thing that you have spoken about [nuclear option] is present, but let’s not talk about it – we should treat it as a very distant possibility, we shouldn’t even discuss it in the immediate context,” Khawaja Asif told local media.
“Before we get to that point, I think temperatures will come down.”
Mr Asif said the national command authority, the body overseeing the country’s nuclear arsenal, has not held any meetings.
No “such meeting [has been] scheduled,” he said.
Pakistan has closed its airspace to all flights until noon on Sunday after reporting a series of Indian attacks on its military airbases.
The civil aviation authority announced the closure in a brief statement, saying: “Pakistan’s airspace will remain closed for all kinds of flights until Sunday at 12:00pm [07:00 GMT].”
The decision comes amid heightened military tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with both sides trading strikes overnight.
Residents of the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, were jolted awake in the early hours of Saturday by a series of loud explosions near the Nur Khan airbase.
“I saw a deafening roar, then saw something flying overhead, it looked like a drone or missile,” Muhammad Saleem, a local resident in his late 40s, who lives near the base, told The Telegraph. “A few moments later, a blast and smoke was rising from near the old airport. It was terrifying.”
Dozens of people rushed into the streets after the blasts, some carrying national flags and chanting slogans such as “Allahu Akbar” and the patriotic slogan “Pakistan Zindabad”. Witnesses reported seeing multiple flashes and hearing more than one explosion.
“India has been targeting civilians for the past two days. Just yesterday, a strike damaged the entrance of Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium during a national league match,” Aurangzeb Farooq, another local, said.
Pakistan says that Indian strikes over the past three days have killed at least 35 people and injured more than 60. It claimed to have downed over 80 drones and launched “a defensive, proportionate response targeting Indian military bases.”
Pakistan’s foreign minister says his country would consider de-escalation if India does not carry out further attacks.
Ishaq Dar, the Pakistani foreign minister, still warned that if India launched any strikes, “our response will follow.”
Dar told Pakistan’s Geo News that he also conveyed this message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he contacted him after speaking to New Delhi two hours ago.
“We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping,” he said.
More loud explosions have rocked Srinagar, in Indian Kashmir.
One missile landed in the middle of the Srinagar’s Dal Lake and other debris was found on the outskirts of the city, the Times of India reported.
Indian soldiers have been sent to stand guard at temporary checkpoints near the airport.
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