Pakistan Expects Indian Attack in Coming Days

Pakistan announced today that it has “credible intelligence information” that India is planning to attack in the next few days and threatened to respond “very strongly.”

In recent days, soldiers have exchanged fire along the border, with reports continuing today. Pakistanis have followed New Delhi’s orders to leave India after last week’s deadly attack in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.

India began to retaliate after accusing Pakistan of supporting the attack in Pahalgam, which Islamabad denies, raising tensions between the nuclear rivals to the highest level since 2019, when they nearly went to war following a suicide bombing in Kashmir. The region is divided between India and Pakistan, with both countries claiming it in full.

Pakistan stated that intelligence data shows India plans military action within the next 24 to 36 hours “under the pretext of unfounded and fabricated allegations” of involvement in the Pahalgam attack.

India Silent

Indian officials have not commented. However, Indian government sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has given the armed forces full operational freedom to determine the method, targets, and timing of India's response to the Pahalgam massacre.”

The attack last week, which killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists, was claimed by a previously unknown militant group “Kashmir Resistance.” New Delhi describes all unrest in Indian-controlled Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this, and many Muslim Kashmiris view the militants as part of a domestic freedom struggle.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized in separate phone calls with India and Pakistan the need to “avoid conflict that could lead to tragic consequences.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and “emphasized the need for both sides to continue working together for peace and stability in South Asia,” according to a Pakistani statement.

Earlier, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told reporters that he had “made it very clear, on behalf of the government and the nation, that Pakistan will not be the first to escalate. However, in the event of any Indian escalation, we will respond very firmly.”

Military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif added: “If they think aggression is the way forward, our message is this: we are ready, do not test us.”

Pakistan did not elaborate on the “credible intelligence” it cited.

Pakistanis Leaving India

The deadline for Pakistani nationals to leave India, with exceptions for those with medical visas, passed on Sunday, but many families are still heading to the border crossing in Atari, in northern Punjab. Some arrived alone. Others were deported by police.

“We have settled our families here. We request the government not to uproot our families,” said Sara Khan, a Pakistani woman ordered to return without her husband Aurangzeb Khan, who holds an Indian passport. Holding her 14-day-old baby, she said she had lived in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 2017.

“They (Indian authorities) told me we are illegal and must leave,” Khan said while waiting on the Indian side of the border.

Other diplomatic measures include the cancellation of visas and recall of diplomats. New Delhi suspended a key water-sharing agreement with Islamabad and ordered the border closed. In response, Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian airlines.

India tonight announced closure of its airspace to all Pakistani aircraft until May 23.

Cross-border fire exchanges between soldiers have intensified along the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir.

India and Pakistan today accused each other of initiating the gunfire.

Pakistani state media reported that Indian forces violated the ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control by firing heavy weapons. According to Pakistani TV, troops returned fire after being attacked overnight in the Mandal sector of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

The Indian army said it responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from Pakistan in the sectors of Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

These reports have not been independently verified. Previously, both sides have traded accusations of initiating border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.

The Indian government’s security council, headed by Prime Minister Modi, met today – for the second time since the attack.

Three tourists who survived the attack told the Associated Press that armed men singled out Hindus and shot them at close range. Among the dead were a Nepalese citizen and a local Muslim pony riding instructor.

Ayshanya Dwivedi, whose husband was killed, said the attacker approached her and her husband and asked him to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. Her husband replied that he was Hindu, and the attacker shot him in the head at close range, she said.