Pakistan assumes India could attack within 36 hours

Pakistan's information minister said Wednesday that Islamabad had "credible intelligence" that India was planning an imminent military strike and he vowed a "decisive response", as worries of spiraling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.

The statement by Attaullah Tarar came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting the previous day with army and security chiefs, at which he gave the military "complete operational freedom" to respond to the attack, a senior government source told AFP.

"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," Tarar said in a statement. Pahalgam is a tourist hub in Indian-administered Kashmir where 26 men were killed on April 22, the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years.

India has accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, a claim Islamabad has rejected. "Any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response," said Tarar. "India will be fully responsible for any serious consequences in the region!"

The development comes as nations around the world, from neighbouring China to the United States, express deep concerns and urge restraint by the nuclear-armed neighbours.

India's army on Wednesday said it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops for a sixth night in a row across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto Kashmir border, a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts. The army reported "small arms firing" in multiple sites, but with no reported casualties.

Pakistan's military did not confirm the shooting, but state radio in Islamabad reported on Tuesday it had shot down an Indian drone, calling it a violation of its airspace. It did not say when the incident happened, and there was no comment from New Delhi.

Tensions have been rapidly mounting in the week since the Pahalgam attack, with tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs, expulsion of citizens and land border crossings shut. Last week, Modi vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack, and those who had supported it.

"I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer," he said on Thursday.
"We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth". The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls from several nations for restraint.