Pakistan warns India of ‘strong response’ to any escalation over Kashmir attack

Pakistan warned India on Wednesday that it would respond “very strongly” to any act of aggression following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the military’s chief spokesperson and the foreign office spokesperson, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan is deeply concerned about growing tensions in the region.

“As we speak, the entire region is facing a serious threat to peace and stability,” Dar said in Islamabad. “This is due to the politically motivated and provocative environment being created by India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.”

India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 assault in the Pahalgam area of Kashmir. Pakistan has rejected the allegation and demanded an independent, transparent investigation.

‘Pakistan has nothing to do with this incident’

“Let me be clear: Pakistan has nothing to do with the Pahalgam incident. Period,” Dar said. “We demand an independent and transparent probe by neutral investigators, as already announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.”

The deputy PM said Islamabad had extended condolences over the loss of life and had worked constructively on the UN Security Council’s statement condemning the attack.

“No one can feel the pain of victims more than Pakistan, which has sacrificed more than 80,000 lives in the fight against terrorism,” Dar said. “The total economic cost, including indirect losses, exceeds $500 billion.”

India using accusations as a ‘political tool’

Dar accused India of weaponizing false claims for political gains.

“It is preposterous to suggest any link between Pakistan and this attack,” he said. “This is not the first time India has resorted to such tactics — we saw similar behavior after Pulwama.”

He said India has long used such incidents to deflect attention from its own security failures in Kashmir and the denial of rights to Kashmiris.

“To distract from its domestic challenges and repression in occupied Kashmir, India raises tensions with Pakistan,” Dar said. “The root cause of instability in South Asia is the unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute.”

Pakistan’s military accuses India of cross-border terrorism

Dar’s remarks came a day after Pakistan’s military accused India of sponsoring terrorism inside Pakistan.

Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the chief spokesperson for the army, claimed India was directing a cross-border network of operatives. He said the military had “irrefutable evidence” linking Indian army officers to attacks in Pakistan.

Tensions have risen sharply since the April 22 attack. India has since suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, a decades-old water-sharing agreement, citing Pakistan’s alleged support for cross-border terrorism.

New Delhi said it would not resume the treaty until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” ends such support. Islamabad condemned the move as a breach of international law.

Pakistan has responded by suspending trade ties with India and closing its airspace to Indian aircraft.

‘We are alert’

Dar said Pakistan had been in contact with the international community to explain its position.

He added that any unilateral action under the Indus Waters Treaty would be illegal, noting that the treaty allows for dispute resolution mechanisms.

“In case of any act of aggression, Pakistan remains committed to defending its territorial integrity,” Dar said. “Our armed forces are alert. The NSC’s resolve is clear.”

He urged the world to question India’s motives and rising hostility.

“Isn’t it time for the international community to hold India accountable?” Dar asked. “The dangerous brinkmanship could have disastrous consequences in this nuclearized region.”

Dar said Pakistan quickly issued a statement condemning the April 22 attack in Pahalgam and offered condolences to the victims’ families.

“We issued our statement without delay,” he said. “We also worked on a press statement at the United Nations Security Council. However, when the UNSC statement was released, we noticed two key omissions.”

Dar said the statement did not specify the location of the attack as Jammu and Kashmir.

“We insisted that ‘Jammu and Kashmir’ be clearly mentioned,” he said. “Second, the statement referred to a resistance forum and condemned it — but we asked, where is the evidence for this?”

A presentation was then screened by the Foreign Office spokesperson to explain how the incident unfolded.

Speaking at the same briefing, military spokesperson Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the aim was to present facts — not allegations.

“We are walking you through the facts, not speculation,” he said. “If the claim is that so-called Pakistan-based terrorists carried out the attack, then it’s important to note where the incident occurred. It happened deep inside Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”

India questioned for rapid blame on Pakistan

Lt-Gen Chaudhry questioned India’s intelligence and response.

“There was no prior intelligence warning, yet within 10 minutes of the attack, India claimed it had full evidence linking it to Pakistan,” he said. “It was also alleged there was indiscriminate firing. Now they are pushing a narrative that Muslims spared Muslims and only Hindus were targeted.”

He also showed a video of Indian tourists enjoying a zipline ride at the time of the attack, suggesting there was no prior security alert.

Chaudhry screened clips from Indian media, which he said were quick to blame Pakistan — without evidence — minutes after the incident.

He also shared tweets highlighting how previous attacks in Pakistan, including the Karachi airport and Jaffar Express attacks, were followed by similar online patterns. The same accounts, he claimed, pushed narratives blaming Pakistan and linking the attackers to Islamist groups.

“Voices are emerging from within India itself,” he said, “questioning their own administration’s failure.”

'Same playbook at play'

Chaudhry said there was a pattern of using terror attacks for political gain.

“After a quarter of a century, it’s the same playbook,” he said. “Incidents like Pulwama and now Pahalgam are used repeatedly to serve political objectives. History tells us what really happened in Pulwama.”

The military spokesperson also accused India of using anti-Pakistan narratives to influence domestic politics.

“You can see they blame Pakistan to take credit and win elections,” said Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry. “Another serious issue is the use of illegally held Pakistani prisoners in fake encounters.”

He claimed that hundreds of Pakistanis detained in India were being falsely presented as terrorists or infiltrators after being killed in staged operations.

Chaudhry said leaders of several militant groups operating in Balochistan, who have since surrendered, had provided detailed accounts of Indian support.

“They have revealed how they were funded, assisted, and sponsored by India,” he said.

The spokesperson also played video clips of international leaders, including former Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, raising concerns about Indian involvement in cross-border activities and unrest abroad.

'We have strong evidence'

“Let me be clear,” Chaudhry said. “When we say we have nothing to do with Pahalgam, and when we call for an independent, credible, and transparent investigation, we do so based on strong evidence, facts, and reasons.”

Lt-Gen Chaudhry also played a video clip allegedly showing a serving Indian army officer briefing a Pakistani handler. In the recording, the officer claimed to have a network operating from Balochistan to Lahore.

Chaudhry accused India of sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan and blamed it for thousands of casualties.

“Since January 2024, Pakistan has suffered 3,700 terror incidents,” he said. “And yet we are the ones being blamed — without any evidence.”

He said these attacks resulted in 3,896 casualties, including 1,314 people killed, both civilians and security personnel.

“To protect our people, we are carrying out 192 counter-terror operations daily,” he said. “So far this year, we have killed 1,666 terrorists. This is the terrorism abetted and sponsored by India.”

He warned that if such extremist ideologies were allowed to take root in a country of over 240 million people, the consequences would be global.

'India stoking unrest for political ends'

“India, for its short-term political objectives, is facilitating this terrorism,” he said. “This must be understood.”

Chaudhry also raised concerns over the treatment of Muslims in India following the Pahalgam incident.

“Over 1,000 people have been wrongly charged,” he said.

The press conference featured a video of Indian politician Aminul Islam, an MLA from the All India United Democratic Front (AUIDF), who had suggested India was involved in the Pahalgam attack. Chaudhry noted that Islam was later arrested for his remarks.

He also highlighted the case of a Kashmiri journalist who went missing after questioning the Indian government’s handling of the attack.

“Anyone who tries to speak the truth within India is silenced,” he said. “That includes journalists and politicians.”

'Why block YouTube channels?'

Chaudhry accused the Indian government of blocking all Pakistani YouTube and digital news channels inside India.

“They’re blocking the truth from reaching their own people,” he said. “Why? Because they are afraid of it.”

He concluded by accusing India of shifting blame for its internal failures.

“India is internalizing what is external and externalizing what is internal,” he said. “Kashmir is an external issue, but they treat it as internal. Terrorism and extremism are internal issues, but they blame others. This pattern is once again visible in the Pahalgam incident.”

During the question-answer session, the DG ISPR said the Pakistan Army is fully prepared to respond to threats from both its eastern and western borders and is not overstretched despite increasing tensions.

“Pakistan’s army is battle-hardened,” said Lt Gen Chaudhry. “This appears to be a ploy to engage Pakistan on multiple fronts, but we are fully capable of tackling threats from all directions.”

He said terrorists were being actively hunted and eliminated, and Pakistan was monitoring the enemy’s moves across all domains while taking “appropriate countermeasures.”

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said international diplomatic reactions were “incident-specific,” which explained the broad condemnation of the Pahalgam attack.

“But global leaders like President Xi Jinping and President Erdoğan have been very candid about their stance on the issue,” he added.

Is Pakistan 'prepared' for cyber warfare?

When asked about Pakistan’s preparedness in cyber warfare and India’s media campaign pushing for the “last option”, Dar said the threat of conventional war had been neutralized by Pakistan’s nuclear capability.

“We are a nuclear power with advanced missile technology,” he said. “In the event of any escalation, the National Command Authority will take decisions accordingly.”

The DG ISPR, however, declined to compare Pakistan’s cyber capabilities with those of other states, saying only: “We are watching all fronts and our response will be decisive.”

On whether Pakistan planned to share evidence with the international community, Dar said the country’s position had already been conveyed to foreign diplomats.

“Everyone is aware of the pattern. We have repeatedly provided evidence and even Madeleine Albright wrote about such provocations in her book,” he added.

Addressing reports of military exercises, the DG ISPR said Pakistan remained on high alert.

“If they [India] choose confrontation, we will determine the nature and scale of our response,” he said.

Dar confirmed that the information minister’s warning about the next 36 hours being “critical” was based on credible intelligence.

He also condemned what he called “highly undiplomatic behavior” towards Pakistani diplomats in India. “We will raise this issue at international forums,” he added.

Responding to reports of clashes along the Line of Control (LoC), the DG ISPR urged caution against relying on unverified social media footage.

“There is a hotline between the Directors General of Military Operations (DG MOs) of both countries. Calls are exchanged regularly under a longstanding arrangement, but these discussions are not made public,” he said.

'Is US playing a role in easing tensions?'

Asked about U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s reported offer to mediate, Dar said the Foreign Office would schedule a call accordingly.

“We have repeatedly demanded evidence and have made our position clear. This is a false flag operation,” he said. “The need of the hour is not mediation but international intervention to prevent India from escalating tensions.”

On the March 2024 attack on Chinese nationals in Pakistan, the DG ISPR said social media accounts that predicted the attack in advance were traced back to India.

“This was an externally sponsored act of terrorism. All relevant information has been shared with our Chinese counterparts,” he said.

Regarding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s silence amid the current crisis, Dar said the PM had been in constant touch with national authorities since returning from Turkey.

“All parliamentary leaders were present in the Senate. A draft resolution was shared, amended with consensus, and passed after discussions with opposition parties,” he said.