India planning military action in next 24-36 hours, will face consequences: Pakistan
Pakistan on Wednesday claimed it has “credible intelligence” that India is planning military action against it in the next 24-36 hours and warned New Delhi that there would be consequences.
The statement came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the top defence brass that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom” to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Tensions have risen between the two countries after the Pahalgam terror attack last week that killed 26 people.
India has already downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, closed the Attari-Wagah border, expelled all Pakistani military attaches, while Pakistan responded with tit-for-tat measures and paused the 1972 Simla Agreement following the terror attack.
In a statement on X, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that any act of aggression would be met with a decisive response, and that India would be held accountable for any serious consequences in the region.
“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext. Any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response… India will be fully responsible for any serious consequences in the region,” said Tarar.
He said that Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism itself and truly understands the pain of this scourge. “We have always condemned it in all its forms and manifestations, anywhere in the world,” he added.
Tarar said Pakistan had “open-heartedly offered a credible, transparent, and independent investigation by a neutral commission of experts to ascertain the truth”.
He also urged the international community to recognise the severity of the situation, stressing that “the onus of an escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India”.
“The nation reiterates its resolve to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan at all costs,” he said.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had reportedly said a military incursion by India was imminent. “Pakistan was on high alert but would only use its nuclear weapons if there is a direct threat to our existence”, Asif had said.
In response to the deadly attack, PM Modi said during a rally in Bihar on April 24 that India will “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist and their “backers” involved in the attack, and pursue the killers to the “ends of the earth.”
Top News