In a swiftly escalating confrontation between the two nuclear powers, at least 26 people were killed in Indian air strikes on Wednesday morning, Pakistani officials said, claiming to have shot down five Indian fighter jets.
India said 15 of its citizens were killed by Pakistani shelling across the Line of Control (LOC), the de facto border of the disputed Kashmir region that is claimed by both countries. Five Pakistanis were reportedly killed in the exchange.
Trucks transport army tanks in Muridke, 30km from Lahore, after India fired missiles at Pakistani territory (Photo: Murtaz Ali / AFP)
Both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers, with at least 160 nuclear warheads each, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
Raoof Hasan, who served as special assistant to the former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, accused India of a reckless act that could lead to uncontrolled escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Missile fragments at the site of an Indian strike in Pakistan’s Punjab region (Photo: Shahid Saeed Mirza/AFP/Getty)
Mr Hasan accused India of a reckless act that could lead to uncontrolled escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.
“When you have the bomb, you cannot completely eliminate it from your thinking and your strategic paradigm…India has the bomb. We have the bomb. And we have just [test] fired two missiles in the last week. One can be fired up to 450 kilometres and is capable of carrying nuclear weapons.”
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Pakistani researchers warn that India’s use of its larger conventional forces could trigger an unconventional response if military planners feel an existential threat.
“The presence of kinetic strategies in the CSD compelled Pakistan to maintain a credible nuclear deterrence to prevent any military intervention by the belligerent army that is twice its size,” Khan wrote in an article published on Wednesday.
India enjoys a substantial advantage in manpower, fighter aircraft and armoured vehicles, according to the Global Firepower index.
Villagers sit in a tractor trolley as they move to safer Indian civilians move away from the de facto border with Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region after an exchange of fire (Photo: Reuters)“With 160+ nukes on each side, potential further escalation carries immense risk,” wrote Dr Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, in a post on social media.
Pravin Sawhney, an Indian army veteran and editor of military news outlet Force India, said both sides could claim accomplishments in Wednesday’s exchange and both had stopped short of invading the other’s territory, clearing a path for de-escalation.
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“Pakistan is not deterred, so I expect more attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days,” he said.
Pakistan’s response to Indian strikes is likely to be strong, she believes.
But she added that both sides had numerous capabilities and means of escalation short of nuclear weapons.
“Both nuclear-armed rivals have plenty of pages in the playbook of conventional warfare and military force that they will draw on without having to resort to their nuclear arsenal…The existence of nuclear weapons on both sides will act as a major deterrent should the security situation grow more fragile.”
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