Describing an “Escalation” between India and the United States: “We want to de-escalate as quickly as possible”

An officer from the Indian military told a group Friday that her country sent drones to four locations in Pakistan in response to what her country termed an “escalation” by their rival. Pakistan targeted towns in India with drones overnight along a 760-mile stretch of border from the desert town of Jaisalmer in India’s northwest to the Himalayan peaks of Indian-held Kashmir, places that have not been targeted in conflict for decades.

Vance spoke on Fox News late Thursday, in response to a question about if the Trump administration was worried about nuclear conflict. “We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible,” and added: “We can’t control these countries though.”

“What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we’re not going to get involved in the middle of a war that’s fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it.”

Tammy Bruce said that as long as there were disagreements, the US would offer help to avoid future conflicts.

“This might embolden both sides, I think,” said Praveen Donthi, an India analyst for the International Crisis Group. He said that the situation between India and Pakistan has been escalating and that they don’t know when it will stop.

Arifa Noor is a columnist for the liberal newspaper Dawn and her comments indicate a more hands-off foreign policy. During previous escalations in 2019 and 1999, Washington worked intently to dial down tensions.

Even as the two countries relied on the U.S. to “step in and talk the two countries off the ledge”, she said, there isn’t another power that could step into this vacuum. She described them as “two nuclear powers that are inherently in a very unstable situation.”

She said Pakistan often sought international intervention in order to protect itself against Indian forces in the disputed region of Kashmir. Both countries claim to own the entire Himalayan territory.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan said India fired missiles at three air bases inside the country Saturday but most of the missiles were intercepted and that retaliatory strikes on India were underway. It’s the latest escalation in a conflict triggered by a massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan.

On Friday, at least two projectiles landed near a military cantonment in the Pakistani city of Okara. Residents filmed one careering to the ground, spinning across a field while emitting plumes of smoke as young men dashed out of the way. Two residents independently described the incident toNPR but both requested anonymity because they didn’t want to anger the authorities in Pakistan.

“There were dozens of fireballs in the sky,” said Gowher Ahmad, 43, of Jammu city, of the overnight barrage. Friday was quiet, but Ahmad said he feared the night.

On the enigmatic violence in the border village of Ajote and Khari: The Kashmiri preacher, journalist and community leader is outraged

Jaspreet Kaur, from the border village of Ajote, said most of the 10,000 residents had fled. “The rest of us are huddled up in the basement of a three-story building,” she said. Karamat Hussain, from another border village, Khari, said many residents couldn’t flee, because they had to care for their livestock, like his elderly parents.

India seems to be cracking down on critics more closely as violence continues. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a Kashmiri preacher who advocates independence for the territory, was not allowed to attend Friday prayers in Indian-held Kashmir. He shared a video of his previous Friday sermon, and wrote, “I urge both the countries to urgently de-escalate and not to tread on this dangerous path, which can only lead to destruction.”

In a message on the global affairs account, the social media network X said it had received “executive orders” from the Indian government to block over 8,000 accounts. The Wire, an independent news site based in New Delhi, and Anuradha Bhasin, a Kashmiri journalist, were among those blocked. Indian authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

Srinagar appeared calm early Saturday but some residents in neighborhoods close to the city’s airport, which is also an air base, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of fighter jets.

“I was already awake but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin says he heard at least two explosions.

India fired missiles at 3 air bases. Pakistani retaliation underway: a joint alert from the prime minister and a senior official

The two countries are at war even though they have not yet begun to refer to them as one, according to a senior analyst.

“It’s become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship with no apparent end goals from either side.” “With increasing civilian casualties on both sides, finding an exit or off-ramp is going to be challenging.”

The Indian army said late Friday that drones were sighted in 26 locations across many areas in Indian states bordering Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, including Srinagar. It said the drones were tracked and engaged.

In Pakistan, the civil aviation authority shut the country’s airports for all flights and in major cities people were chanting supports for the armed forces.

The Group of Seven nations called for “maximum restraint” from India and Pakistan. On Friday it warned of a very serious threat to regional stability.

The military from Pakistan said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target the Indian air bases in Udhampur and Pathankot. There was no way to make sure that all the actions were in fact attributed to Pakistan.

Army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, said Pakistan’s air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes, adding that some of the Indian missiles also hit India’s eastern Punjab.

The prime minister convened a meeting of the National Command Authority which is in charge of overseeing the country’s missile program and other strategic assets.

The call for calm came ahead of Saturday’s missile strikes on the air bases in Pakistan, which included an air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, a base in the capital, and one in the eastern Punjab province.

There were no reports of residents hearing or seeing the strike in the densely populated city of Rawalpindi, and there was no media access to the air base.

Source: Pakistan says India fired missiles at 3 air bases. Pakistani retaliation underway

Kashmir’s loud explosions: a war in Srinagar, Jammu and the garrison town of Udhampur

Residents living in Indian-controlled Kashmir said that they heard loud explosions at various places, including Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.

“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. It seems like a war here.