Pakistan says it is committed to Kashmir ceasefire after India accuses it of ‘violations’ – as it happened

Here’s a look at the day’s key events: The Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has addressed the nation, thanking countries including Saudi Arabia and China for their mediation efforts in reaching the ceasefire, and blamed India for spreading false information, destroying mosques and killing civilians across Pakistan. Sharif also said: “We are a very responsible country and we have displayed this. We want peace. We are a peaceful nation… We have made this agreement of ceasefire and we have been very positive about it.” Sharif’s address came on Saturday night, just hours after a ceasefire deal was announced, Reuters had reported Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri saying: “Pakistan has violated the ceasefire agreed today,” adding: “We call on Pakistan to halt the violation.” Misri also said that Indian armed forces have been given instructions to “strongly deal with violations along the border,” Reuters reports as witnesses in Jammu and Srinagar heard and saw blasts and projectiles across the sky. Amid reports of renewed skirmishes between India and Pakistan on Saturday night, UK prime minister Keir Starmer said that the ceasefire between the two countries must be “lasting.” He added that the UK has been “engaged” in the ceasefire talks for “some days,” the BBC reports. The US president, Donald Trump, announced the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan after deadly attacks between the nuclear-armed rivals. The ceasefire came after a “a long night of talks mediated by the United States”, Trump said. The announcement, confirmed by both countries, came after India and Pakistan fired volleys of missiles across their borders on Saturday as the escalated their worst fighting in nearly three decades. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the agreement came after extensive negotiations by him and the US vice-president, JD Vance, with the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, and other top officials. Both sides had earlier said they would be willing to de-escalate the conflict if the other side was willing to do the same. Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan military officials told state-run media it had launched a retaliatory operation, targeting several bases including a missile storage site in northern India. Officials said the attack was called Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, an Arabic phrase meaning “wall of lead”. Pakistan’s offensive came shortly after it said India had fired missiles from fighter jets at three airbases earlier on Saturday, including one close to the capital, Islamabad. Pakistan said its air defences had intercepted most of them. Pakistan has said it “remains committed” to the truce with India following Indian claims of ceasefire violations, AFP reports. On Saturday night, just hours after a ceasefire deal was announced, Reuters reported Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri saying: Pakistan has violated the ceasefire agreed today. We call on Pakistan to halt the violation. The Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, later said: We are a very responsible country and we have displayed this. We want peace. We are a peaceful nation … We have made this agreement of ceasefire and we have been very positive about it. Residents in Jammu reported drone attacks and projectiles in the sky just hours after a ceasefire was announced. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said Saturday that Beijing supported India and Pakistan’s efforts to reach a ceasefire, and remains “willing to continue playing a constructive role” in the process, state news agency Xinhua reported. Agence France-Presse reports: Wang made the comment during telephone talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, adding that Beijing remained concerned about any escalation in the conflict, given that it shares borders with both countries. In a separate call with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Wang said he hoped both sides would “remain calm and restrained... and avoid escalating the situation,” after reported violations of the ceasefire agreement reached Saturday. “China supports and expects India and Pakistan to achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire through consultation,” Xinhia quoted Wang as saying to Doval. The Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has addressed the nation, thanking countries including Saudi Arabia and China for their mediation efforts in reaching the ceasefire, and blamed India for spreading false information, destroying mosques and killing civilians across Pakistan. Sharif also said: We are a very responsible country and we have displayed this. We want peace. We are a peaceful nation… We have made this agreement of ceasefire and we have been very positive about it. He added that the ceasefire agreement was made “for the benefit of everybody.” He went on to say: We will not be sitting in peace until Pakistan gets its lost integrity back and by God’s grace that time is not far away. Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar denied Indian claims that Pakistan had violated the ceasefire, he said in an interview with Geo News. Tarar said all such reports by the Indian media are baseless. “Pakistan cannot do any ceasefire violation, nor has it thought about this. It is a moment of celebration and the Pakistani nation is celebrating their victory today,” said Tarar. Here are some images coming through the newswires: Reuters is reporting Indian foreign secretary saying that Indian armed forces are responding to reported ceasefire violations. On Saturday night, just hours after a ceasefire deal was announced, Reuters reported secretary Vikram Misri saying: “Pakistan has violated the ceasefire agreed today,” adding: “We call on Pakistan to halt the violation.” Misri also said that Indian armed forces have been given instructions to “strongly deal with violations along the border,” Reuters reports as witnesses in Jammu and Srinagar heard and saw blasts and projectiles across the sky. Amid reports of renewed skirmishes between India and Pakistan on Saturday night, UK prime minister Keir Starmer said that the ceasefire between the two countries must be “lasting.” He added that the UK has been “engaged” in the ceasefire talks for “some days,” the BBC reports. Earlier today, Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar said that UK foreign secretary David Lammy “played a key role in this process,” adding that several countries were involved in the ceasefire process, “most notably the United Kingdom.” Pakistan’s Kashmir education minister said skirmishes are continuing along the de-facto border with India, Reuters reports. Earlier, residents in Jammu reported drone attacks as well as projectiles in the sky, just hours after a ceasefire was announced. Military officials from India and Pakistan have yet to respond to the blasts heard above Srinagar and Jammu on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Donald Trump took to social media to write: “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.” Similarly, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general said: “The secretary-general welcomes the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan as a positive step toward ending current hostilities and easing tensions. He hopes the agreement will contribute to lasting peace and foster an environment conducive to addressing broader, longstanding issues between the two countries.” Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, just took to X and wrote: “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!” In a following post, he posted a video of blasts being heard in the night sky, writing: “This is no ceasefire. The air defense units in the middle of Srinagar just opened up.” As both countries step back from the brink, the animosity generated by decades of dispute still endures. The Guardian’s Jason Burke reports: If this ceasefire holds, then coming weeks will see a new battle: of narratives. India has claimed that Lashkar-e-Taiba, the extremist group that carried out the massacre three weeks ago of 25 tourists and a guide in Indian-controlled Kashmir that started the conflict, is merely a proxy for Islamabad. Pakistan has denied this. Maintaining a state of conflict in Kashmir, undermining Delhi’s control there and internationalising the conflict have been strategic goals of Pakistan’s hugely powerful military for decades. Islamic militant groups, some based in Kashmir, others recruited and based elsewhere, have been a key tool to achieve this. That no one in Pakistan’s security establishment had any prior idea of April’s attack seems implausible. Pakistani officials seek to highlight underlying causes of violence: ongoing repression in Kashmir, the revocation by Delhi of the region’s autonomous status in 2019 and multiple other grievances. For the full analysis, click here: Reuters is now reporting that residents in India’s town of Jammu are facing drone attacks just hours after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was announced. According to witnesses, blasts can be heard and projectiles have been seen in the sky. Indian and Pakistani officials have yet to comment on the reports. India and Pakistan have agreed an immediate and full ceasefire to the conflict that has escalated for weeks in the disputed territory of Kashmir, following a deadly terror attack in an India-administered area of the region that killed 26 on 22 April. The US president, Donald Trump, announced the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan after deadly attacks between the nuclear-armed rivals. The ceasefire came after a “a long night of talks mediated by the United States”, Trump said. The announcement, confirmed by both countries, came after India and Pakistan fired volleys of missiles across their borders on Saturday as the escalated their worst fighting in nearly three decades. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the agreement came after extensive negotiations by him and the US vice-president, JD Vance, with the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, and other top officials. Both sides had earlier said they would be willing to de-escalate the conflict if the other side was willing to do the same. Rubio, posting on X, said both sides would now start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, told broadcaster Geo news that three dozen countries were involved in the diplomacy that secured the “full fledged” ceasefire. Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan military officials told state-run media it had launched a retaliatory operation, targeting several bases including a missile storage site in northern India. Officials said the attack was called Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, an Arabic phrase meaning “wall of lead”. Pakistan’s offensive came shortly after it said India had fired missiles from fighter jets at three airbases earlier on Saturday, including one close to the capital, Islamabad. Pakistan said its air defences had intercepted most of them. Locked in a longstanding dispute over Kashmir, the two countries have engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched strikes inside Pakistan on what it called militant bases. The ceasefire agreed by India and Pakistan on Saturday is “hugely welcome”, UK foreign secretary David Lammy wrote on X, adding that de-escalation was in “everybody’s interest”. “Today’s ceasefire between India and Pakistan is hugely welcome. I urge both parties to sustain this. De-escalation is in everybody’s interest,” he wrote. In a post on X, India’s minister of external affairs S. Jaishankar said: India and Pakistan have today worked out an understanding on stoppage of firing and military action. India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so. People have gathered in both India and Pakistan to celebrate the ceasefire. The Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan remains suspended, four government sources told Reuters, despite the countries reaching a ceasefire agreement on Saturday after days of deadly fighting. The 1960 treaty regulates the sharing of water from the Indus river and its tributaries between the South Asian nations. India pulled out of it last month after the deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir that sparked the latest round of conflict between the two countries. Indian military representative, wing commander Vyomika Singh said during a short press conference that India had not targeted mosques during fighting, refuting Pakistan’s claims that it had struck religious sites. Several attempts were made by Pakistan on a “misinformation campaign”, Singh said. “We hold every place of worship of all faiths in the highest regard,” she told the news conference, adding: “no religious sites have been targeted by the Indian armed forces”. Many in Pakistan greeted news of the ceasefire with relief and joy, AP reports. Chanting slogans of “Long Live Pakistan,” people in many cities welcomed the ceasefire with India, calling it a moment of national pride and relief after days of heightened tension. “This is a big day for Pakistan,” said Mohammad Fateh, a young man in the city of Lahore. “Our forces responded with strength, and India had no choice but to agree to a ceasefire.” In Islamabad, Zubaida Bibi, 45, expressed joy at the restoration of peace with India, saying, “War brings nothing but suffering. We are happy that calm is returning. It feels like Eid to me. We have won.” In the northwest of Pakistan, in the city of Peshawar and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, some people fired guns in the air to celebrate the ceasefire. In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, residents welcomed the ceasefire, hoping it would bring long-awaited relief to a region that has borne the brunt of recurring conflict. “For us, peace means survival,” said Zulfikar Ali, a resident. “We’ve suffered enough. I’m glad that both Pakistan and India have made a sensible decision.” Watch the Indian defence ministry’s news briefing Pakistan’s airspace has been fully reopened for all types of flights according to Pakistan’s airport authority (APA). A notice on the APA website reads: “All airports across the country are available for normal flight operations. Passengers are advised to contact their respective airlines for updated flight schedules.” The APA said earlier today that Pakistan’s airspace would close for 24 hours. Reuters reports that Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar told broadcaster Geo news on Saturday that Pakistan and India had agreed to a “full-fledged” and “not partial” ceasefire, adding that three dozen countries were involved in the diplomacy that secured it. AP also reports that Dar told Geo news that Saudi Arabia and Turkey played an important role in facilitating the deal that was first announced by US president Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform. In a very brief press conference, India also confirmed the immediate ceasefire. India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri said: The director general of military operations in Pakistan called the director general of military operations in India at 15:35, earlier this afternoon. It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all fighting and military action on land and in the air and sea with effect from 17:00 Indian standard time today. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says India and Pakistan “have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site”. In a post on X, he said: Over the past 48 hours, VP (JD) Vance and I have engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Asim Malik. I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site. We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar says India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect. In a post on X, Dar, who is also Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, said: Pakistan and India have agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect. Pakistan has always strived for peace and security in the region, without compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity! It is worth noting that despite Trump’s announcement, neither India nor Pakistan has yet confirmed the ceasefire. The press conference with India’s defence and foreign ministries that was scheduled to begin at 1pm has not yet started, but we will bring you any developments as soon as we have them. In a post on his Truth Social platform, US president Donald Trump has announced a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan. After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan has called his Indian and Pakistani counterparts to offer the kingdom’s services as a mediator between the two nuclear-armed states. He said in a statement: During the telephone calls, discussions focused on efforts to put an end to the ongoing military clashes. He underlined the “kingdom’s commitment to regional security and stability, and its close and balanced relations with the two friendly countries”. Riyadh had already sought to defuse rising tensions in the run-up to this week’s clashes, announcing on April 25 that it had “taken steps to avoid an escalation”. We’re expecting India’s foreign and defence ministries to hold a news briefing in just under 40 minutes. We’ll have a live stream of that when it begins, and bring you text updates. Our graphics team have made a map, showing the disputed region of Kashmir, with the locations of overnight airstrikes and shelling between Pakistan and India. India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami has told the BBC that India initially only targeted a “terrorist” base in Pakistan in response to the militant attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month. Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar earlier said India was the aggressor in the conflict, and Pakistan had a right to respond. Doraiswami accused Tarar of lying, and claimed Pakistan has for decades maintained “terrorist infrastructure” inside its borders. Here are some of the latest pictures coming out of India and Pakistan after tensions ratcheted up once more as each side launched strikes on the other overnight. AFP has spoken to analysts who played up the role international mediators will need to play in de-escalating the conflict between India and Pakistan. With the death toll on both sides now over 60, “civilian casualties changes the entire situation and puts both governments under tremendous public pressure,” said Praveen Donthi, senior India analyst for the International Crisis Group. “Both powers on their own are not going to de-escalate.” “In this case, emotions and mistrust are so high that international mediation will be of the essence,” said Michael Kugelman, a Washington DC-based South Asia analyst. “There’s still no clear path to an off ramp.” There have been global calls for restraint but analysts agreed that actual mediation from the US, UK or Arab Gulf states was urgent. The last conflict in 2019 - in and around Kashmir and away from populated areas - ended with both sides claiming victory after mediation from the United States. “But what we’re seeing now is unprecedented. We have not seen these types of attacks before - missiles, drones, planes sent over populated cities,” said Basit. “It’s a new playbook,” said Basit, with mediators needed to “help with the victory narrative for both sides” in order to de-escalate. Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif said that it was still “premature” to give any statements on de-escalation, the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Peterson reports. “Things are in pipeline and contacts have been established.” Asif said. “There is no conclusive statement to be given yet. But I can confirm that the US and Saudi Arabia are playing a crucial role as interlocutors. Secretary of state made a call today to Pakistan’s military chief and the Saudi state minister for foreign minister is in the town.” He added: “We can’t trust Indians for talks and de-escalation. If interlocutors and our common friends and credible countries such as Saudi Arabia and the US step in and play a crucial role, we have no issue to de-escalate. We did not start it. We just responded to the Indian military aggression.” The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy has joined G7 ministers in calling for an “immediate de-escalation” between India and Pakistan, PA reports. A statement said: “We, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the high representative of the European Union, strongly condemn the egregious terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 and urge maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan. “Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability. We are deeply concerned for the safety of civilians on both sides. “We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome. We continue to monitor events closely and express our support for a swift and lasting diplomatic resolution.” Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is holding a meeting with top security officials at his residence following the escalation in tensions with Pakistan, AP reports. Defense minister Rajnath Singh, national security advisor Ajit Doval and the chiefs of the army, navy and air force are present. Modi’s office released a video of the meeting in which he is seen talking to the officials. Are we heading for another world war – or has it already started? Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, argues that the implosion of Pax Americana, the interconnectedness of conflicts, the new willingness to resort to unbridled state-sponsored violence and the irrelevance of the institutions of the rules-based order have all been on brutal display this week as conflict between India and Pakistan intensified. In Kashmir, where two nuclear-armed states are firing rockets at one another’s aircraft, there is a conspicuous absence of American interest. The US has no ambassador in India or Pakistan and no senior state department official appointed. The conflict is not making waves in US media, and Trump’s initial response was “it’s a shame” and that “if you think about it they have been fighting for many, many decades, and centuries, actually”. In previous disputes between India and Pakistan it took a decisive US intervention to help calm both sides. In July 1999 in Washington, Bill Clinton personally browbeat Pakistan’s then leader, Nawaz Sharif, into retreat in what one official called the most important meeting with a foreign leader of Clinton’s presidency. The former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo revealed in his memoir how close the two sides came in February 2019 to a nuclear conflagration, something he frantically helped stop from a secure hotel room on a visit to Hanoi. Unnervingly, India is no longer framing the issue as terrorism but as a state-on-state dispute by saying the underlying issue is Pakistan acting as a shield for terrorism. China has said it is “deeply concerned about the escalation” of tensions between India and Pakistan and is willing to “continue to play a constructive role” in finding a solution, AP reports. China’s foreign ministry said: “We strongly urge both sides to act in the larger interest of peace and stability, exercise calm and restraint, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means, and refrain from any action that could further escalate tension.” China is a strong ally of Pakistan, especially in the defence sector where they have jointly developed fighter aircraft. AP has reported from Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which was rattled by multiple loud explosions earlier today. Most shops and businesses were open, but traffic was thin on the roads. Government forces, wearing body armour and carrying automatic rifles, erected additional checkpoints on the main road leading to the city’s airport, a part of which also serves as an Indian air force station. Many residents living close to the airport fled from their neighborhoods in fear of attacks. The Indian military said it was among three air bases that came under Pakistani attack early Saturday. Local resident Munir Ahmed along with his family fled from their home as they didn’t feel safe, he said. “We did not want to take any chances as my daughter is in her late pregnancy,” Ahmed said. Authorities have already closed schools and other educational institutions across the region until Tuesday. Most shops and businesses were shut in the region’s Jammu city, which witnessed Pakistan’s Saturday strike and drone attacks for the past two nights. Anxious residents said police drove through some neighborhoods and asked shopkeepers to close businesses and stay indoors as a precautionary measure. At least 13 civilians were killed in Pakistani Kashmir in the 12 hours to noon on Saturday, the region’s disaster authority said, as India and Pakistan traded fire after Islamabad’s military action against India in the early hours of the day. It is currently just past 2pm in Kashmir. More than 50 people were also injured in the region, the authority said. India has shut more airports along its northern and western regions following the flare up in tensions with Pakistan, AP reports. The India’s Civil Aviation Ministry in a statement said the operation of civil flights will remain suspended from 32 airports until 15 May. It had previously announced flights from two dozen airports would be suspended. The latest airports to be shut are mainly located in the northern states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and the western state of Gujarat, bordering Pakistan. India and Pakistan have accused each other of cross-border missile strikes against major military targets, the most significant escalation so far in the brewing conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. On Saturday, India accused Pakistan of launching strikes on dozens of airbases and military headquarters across north India, using long-range weapons, drones and fighter aircraft. The accusations came a few hours after Pakistan said India had fired six surface-to-air missiles targeting three of Pakistan’s most important military bases early on Saturday morning. Shortly afterwards, Pakistan officials confirmed they had begun their counter-attack against India, under the name Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, a phrase from the Qur’an roughly translating to “wall of lead”. Read the Guardian’s latest report on the intensifying cross-border conflict between India and Pakistan at the link below. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif told the country’s political leaders in separate calls that “we have given India a befitting response and avenged the blood of our innocent citizens” following what he said were repeated Indian strikes on civilians, AP reports. India has denied hitting civilian targets. In a statement, his office said Sharif said Pakistan had shown “extreme restraint” in the face of Indian provocations. He said Pakistan responded after India’s overnight missile attacks at air bases and other places. Pakistan’s retaliatory military operation against India, under the name Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, translating from the Arabic as “wall of lead”, targeted multiple bases including a missile storage site in northern India. Pakistan’s foreign ministry quoted Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, as saying he “appreciated Pakistan’s measured and restrained response” to India in a phone call to his counterpart. In a statement, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Ishaq Dar informed Farhan about the situation in the region following last night’s Indian attacks and Pakistan’s subsequent response. “Both leaders agreed to maintain close contact,” it said. Saudi Arabia has in recent years tried to position itself as a mediator in conflicts including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Two loud blasts were heard in Indian’s Kashmir’s summer capital of Srinagar on Saturday, near the city airport and the local headquarters of the army, according to an official, a Reuters witness, and local residents. Two blasts were also heard in Kashmir’s Baramulla town, an official and residents told Reuters, as fighting continued between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan. Pakistan’s defence minister has played down the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used. He earlier denied that the main body in charge of command and control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, the National Command Authority, had no plans to meet after reports that it had convened a meeting. Defence minister Khawaja Asif told ARY TV: “This thing that you have spoken about (nuclear option) is present, but let’s not talk about it - we should treat it as a very distant possibility, we shouldn’t even discuss it in the immediate context.” “Before we get to that point, I think temperatures will come down. No meeting has happened of the National Command Authority, nor is any such meeting scheduled.” If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of where things stand after Pakistan said it carried out retaliatory strikes in response to India targeting its military bases with missiles in a sharp escalation of the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The Pakistani military said India fired six missiles targeting Nur Khan, Murid and Shorkot – three of Pakistan’s most important military bases – early on Saturday morning. It said most were intercepted by Pakistani air defences. Pakistan later launched a retaliatory military operation against India, its military said, under the name Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, translating from the Arabic as “wall of lead”. It targeted multiple bases including a missile storage site in northern India. Pakistan military officials said the Pathankot military airfield in Punjab and Udhampur air force base in Indian-administered Kashmir were among the targets, with loud explosions heard from both. Among India’s targets was Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military has its headquarters, which is about 10km from Islamabad. The strikes caused panic in the densely populated area. Pakistan later shut its air space for 24 hours. India’s strikes and Pakistan’s counterattack brings the two countries the closest they have been to war in decades. But India and Pakistan both said on Saturday they would not escalate hostilities if the other reciprocated. US secretary of state Marco Rubio urged both countries’ foreign ministers to find ways to “de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation”. The G7 called for “maximum restraint”, saying “further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability”. The two countries have engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched strikes inside Pakistan on what it called militant bases. At least 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides of the border that have not been independently verified. The flare-up comes after an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, killing 26 civilians. India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants behind the attack. India’s military said on Saturday it had begun large-scale mobilisation of additional forces to the border, including activating its reserve territorial army, in case the conflict escalated further. More here on the US secretary of state’s calls to top Indian and Pakistani diplomats amid the flaring conflict – just days after US vice-president JD Vance was reported as saying the US would not intervene and the fighting between the two countries was “fundamentally none of our business”. Marco Rubio urged India and Pakistan to restore direct communication to “avoid miscalculation” in a series of calls, the state department said early on Saturday. Rubio placed telephone calls to the rivals’ foreign ministers and, for the first known time since the conflict erupted, also spoke with Pakistan’s army chief, Col Asim Munir. considered the country’s key powerbroker, Agence France-Presse reports. In the separate calls with the top diplomats, Rubio “emphasised that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation”, state department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. In the conversations with both foreign ministers and Asim Munir, Rubio also “offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts”, Bruce said. The stepped-up diplomacy came as the conflict intensified between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with Pakistan launching counterattacks after India struck three of its air bases, according to officials. Pakistan’s aviation authority says its airspace is to remain closed for the next 24 hours, AFP just reported. Pakistan’s foreign minister has told local television that if India stops here then “we will consider to stop here”, Reuters is reporting. Ishaq Dar also said he had told the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, that the ball was in India’s court when it came to de-escalation. Rubio said both parties had to find ways to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation, the US state department said. The Indian military, meanwhile, reiterated a commitment not to escalate the conflict provided that was reciprocated by the Pakistani military. India said limited damaged was sustained to equipment and personnel at some Indian military bases that were hit. It also said the claim that its missiles had struck Afghanistan were false. Pakistan is increasing its deployment of troops along the border, the Indian military said on Saturday. The Pakistani army has been observed to be moving its troops into forward areas, “indicating offensive intent to further escalate the situation”, an Indian military spokesperson told the media briefing in New Delhi. “Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness,” Reuters quoted her as saying. Indian armed forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is reciprocated by the Pakistan military. The Indian military has said at a media conference it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at multiple Indian air bases in the country’s Punjab state early on Saturday. Indian colonel Sofiya Qureshi said in New Delhi just now that Pakistan also targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Indian-controlled Kashmir. “Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” she said. The Pakistani army’s actions were “provocation” and India’s response was “measured”, said foreign secretary Vikram Misri, cited by the Associated Press. Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, has told ARY TV that no meeting of the National Command Authority is scheduled. It was reported earlier that Pakistan’s prime minister had convened a meeting of the authority, the main body that makes decisions on the control, command and operations of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Asif also said the United States was the one country that could play an effective role between Pakistan and India. India’s military claims Pakistan has targeted medical and educational facilities in Indian-administered Kashmir as well as using a missile to target an airbase in Punjab. It also said Pakistan attempted air intrusions in 26 locations, Reuters reports. The Indian military said it responded by targeting radar systems and technical bases in Pakistan. More on Beijing’s call for India and Pakistan to avoid escalating their conflict: a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement cited by AFP: We strongly call on both India and Pakistan to give priority to peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means and avoid taking actions that further escalate tensions. The latest India-Pakistan fighting was triggered by an attack on the Indian-run side of Kashmir that killed 26 tourists and which Delhi blamed on Pakistan, also accusing the Lashkar-e-Taiba group of involvement. But what exactly is Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and what is its relationship with Islamabad? Peter Beaumont describes in this explainer how it is a long-established Islamic salafist militant group founded in Pakistan and designated as a terrorist group by many countries. Its 2008 attack on Mumbai killed 166 people, including a number of foreign nationals. The UN security council says LeT has conducted “numerous terrorist operations” against military and civilian targets since 1993, including attacks on Mumbai commuter trains in July 2006 and a December 2001 attack on India’s parliament. The group has focused much of its militant activity in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, largely because of its proximity to India, but LeT has a broader hostility to India. The full explainer is here: China has “strongly” urged India and Pakistan to avoid escalating their conflict, AFP is reporting. Residents have been taking shelter amid artillery shelling overnight in Poonch district, in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Five people have been killed in Pakistani attacks in India’s Jammu region on Saturday morning, according to police in India-administered Kashmir, cited by Reuters. The Indian army said on Saturday that Pakistan was continuing its “blatant escalation” with drone strikes and using other munitions along India’s western border, and its “enemy designs” would be thwarted, according to a report from Reuters. Multiple “enemy armed drones” spotted over the holy city of Amritsar in India’s border state of Punjab were “instantly engaged and destroyed” by Indian air defence units, the army said in a post on X. Here are some of the latest images coming in from the region over the news wires. The US secretary of state has urged India and Pakistan to find ways to de-escalate their conflict, the state department said. Marco Rubio spoke earlier on Saturday with Pakistan’s army chief, Gen Asim Munir, it also said. Reuters reports that Rubio offered US assistance to start constructive talks to avoid future conflicts, according to the state department. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has convened a crucial meeting of the National Command Authority amid the escalating conflict with India. The authority is the main body that makes decisions on the control, command and operations of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Usually a meeting of the authority is convened only in a war-like situation to discuss nuclear matters. Pakistan’s planning and development minister, Ahsan Iqbal, told Reuters: “We would hate to see the nuclear threshold being breached.” Here’s a recap from Kate Lamb of what we know about the latest key developments in the intensifying India-Pakistan conflict. Pakistan launched a retaliatory military operation against India early on Saturday, its military said, targeting multiple bases including a missile storage site in northern India as the nuclear-armed neighbours extended their worst fighting in nearly three decades. Pakistan military officials told state-run media the Pathankot military airfield in Punjab and Udhampur air force base in Indian-administered Kashmir were among the targets, with loud explosions heard from both. Officials said the operation was called Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, an Arabic phrase meaning “wall of lead”. Pakistan’s offensive came shortly after it said India had fired missiles from fighter jets at three air bases earlier on Saturday, including one close to the capital, Islamabad. Pakistani said its air defences had intercepted most of them. Among the targets was Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military has its headquarters, which is around 10km from Islamabad. The strikes caused panic in the densely populated area, with loud explosions sending residents running into the streets. In the aftermath of the strikes, Pakistan shut down its air space. Following Saturday’s strikes, Pakistan prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the military said. The authority is the top body of civilian and military officials that takes security decisions including those related to the country’s nuclear arsenal. India’s attempted strikes on Rawalpindi and other key military bases – and the launch of Pakistan’s counter-attack on Saturday – marks the steepest escalation in their confrontation yet, bringing the two countries the closest they have been to war in decades. Locked in a longstanding dispute over Kashmir, the two countries have engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched strikes inside Pakistan on what it called militant bases. At least 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides of the border that have not been independently verified. The dramatic flare up comes after a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, when 26 civilians were killed. India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants behind the attack. India’s defence and foreign ministries did not immediately comment on the strikes, but India’s military said it had actively begun large-scale mobilisation of additional forces to the border, including activating its reserve territorial army (TA), to ensure full operational strength of the army in the event of any further conflict escalation. The G7 has called for an “immediate de-escalation” and “maximum restraint” between India and Pakistan amid the flaring conflict. “Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability,” G7 foreign ministers said in a statement on Saturday. Pakistan’s foreign minister has said the country has all options available. Ishaq Dar, who is also deputy prime minister, told Geo News the world was watching and Pakistan had given the response. India had left Pakistan with no choice, Dar said. The international community and friendly countries knew that Islamabad had taken this decision as a last resort. Dar said: In the earlier Indian attacks, our 35 civilians were killed. Hours ago, India had attacked our air force bases. We had done everything on a defensive mode and we were forced to retaliate. It is the responsibility of the international community to play their role and they should have played their role when India had attacked Pakistan days ago and killed civilians. We showed so much restraint. Looking now at India and Pakistan’s military might along the contested border, the Indian army is about double the size of Pakistan’s but the two sides are “fairly evenly balanced”, says Sushant Singh, an author and political science lecturer at Yale who spent two decades in the Indian army. There are about 1.2 million active Indian personnel compared with about 650,000 for Pakistan, Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch report. Their dispatch continues: Singh emphasised that, since 2020, India had deployed huge amounts of military personnel and resources towards its mountainous border with China, after the India-China border crisis swiftly escalated. India has also had issues with the modernisation of its armed forces and faced a systematic recruitment problem, leading to a shortfall of soldiers. “Despite its size, India doesn’t have the kind of dominance where you would expect India to easily ride roughshod over Pakistan or declare a quick win,” said Singh. The question of who would have the edge in any confrontation is also a question of equipment. In recent years, India has been shifting away from its reliance on Russian weapons to buying western munitions, including elite French Rafale jet planes and F-16 jets from the US. Pakistan now buys 80% of its military arsenal from China. According to reports, as tensions with India rose last month, China rushed 100 more of its powerful new PL-15 missiles to Pakistan, which it usually keeps for its own inventory and does not export. On Friday, the Pakistan army claimed it used the PL-15 missiles to bring down several Indian jets during Wednesday’s strikes. Shuja Nawaz, the author of Crossed Swords and a known expert on Pakistan’s military, said this showed that “China is not only helping Pakistan, but it is using it as a kind of testing ground for its weaponry against India”. For more context on today’s sharp escalation of the India-Pakistan conflict, the fighting comes two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir that killed 26 tourists, mostly Hindu men. India blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba – a UN-designated terrorist organisation – for the attack but Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent inquiry, reports Agence France-Presse. The countries have fought several wars over the Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both claim in full but administer separate portions of since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Previous clashes have been mostly limited to the Kashmir region – separated by a heavily militarised border known as the line of control – but this time India has struck multiple cities deep in Pakistan. Pakistan’s foreign ministry alleged New Delhi’s “reckless conduct has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict”. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, met top security officials on Friday, including his national security advisor, defence minister and the chiefs of the armed forces, his office said. The Indian military says it has actively begun large-scale mobilisation of additional forces to the border, including activating its reserve territorial army (TA), to ensure full operational strength of the army in the event of any further conflict escalation. In a notification on Friday amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the Indian ministry of defence announced the activation of 14 of 32 infantry battalions of the TA for deployment across the country until February 2028. Each TA battalion has about 750 personnel. The Pakistani military has posted a video on X of its first military strike against India that was launched before dawn after Indian missile attacks on Pakistan’s three air force bases. A senior security source requesting anonymity said Pakistan was left with no choice to take retaliatory actions after it was forced by Indian military aggression but that the early morning attacks on the Pakistani air bases were unprecedented. The security official said: Indian missile attacks were a very serious escalation. It is unprecedented. We have not seen such escalation since the 1971 war with India. We have been defensive since the start of the conflict, but India now wants to become offensive. We have given our response. Who is Asim Munir, the army chief leading Pakistan’s military amid the crisis with India? The general once fell foul of Imran Khan, but since taking the top spot has been quietly amassing power over the government and supreme court, as our profile here says. Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch report that in the 77 years since Pakistan was established, its affairs and politics have long been governed by the whims of powerful military generals. Yet even now that the country is out of the clutches of martial law, it is still widely understood that the most powerful man in Pakistan is not the head of the government but instead the chief of the army. Since Gen Munir took over as Pakistan’s army chief more than two years ago, he has been accused of quietly consolidating greater power without even having to topple the country’s civilian rulers. As he kept himself largely out of the limelight, he consolidated an iron grip over the army’s ranks and bent government policy and even the supreme court to his will. You can read more on Munir here: More here on the G7 urging an “immediate de-escalation” and “maximum restraint” between India and Pakistan amid the flaring conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. “Further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability,” the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies said in a statement, cited by Agence France-Presse. The G7 – which includes Japan, Canada and Italy as well as the US, the UK, Germany and France – added that both sides should “engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome”. Here are some of the latest images coming in from Pakistan, showing police removing vehicles and people from the main entry of Nur Khan airbase after the Indian missile strike in Rawalpindi on Saturday. Pakistan officials have confirmed its counterattack against India has started under the name Operation Bunyan Ul Marsoos, meaning “wall of lead” in Arabic. As our newly updated full report says, Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes – after accusing India of targeting three of its military bases – are a major escalation of the brewing conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan’s military spokesperson said in a live broadcast on state television early on Saturday that India had targeted Nur Khan base, Murid base and Shorkot base. Shah Meer Baloch and Hannah Ellis-Petersen report that Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, where the military has its headquarters, is about 10km from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Video shared on social media showed flames and smoke billowing into the night sky. The early morning strikes on Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, a densely populated area, caused mass panic, with residents running into the streets. India’s attempted strikes on Rawalpindi and other key military bases – and the launch of Pakistan’s counterattack on Saturday – marks the steepest escalation in their confrontation yet, bringing the two countries the closest they have been to war in decades. See the full report here: Pakistan has shut its airspace to all air traffic, India’s NDTV is reporting. Pakistan’s military says it has hit India’s Pathankot air field, Udhampur air force station and Brahmos missile site, Reuters reports. State-run Pakistan Television says “multiple locations” in India are being targeted in Pakistan’s retaliatory attacks. It did not give details and it was unclear which military locations in India were being targeted. The report from the Associated Press comes after Pakistan’s army said earlier that India had fired missiles at three air bases in the country. Most had been intercepted, it said. Pakistan has launched retaliatory military action against India, the Pakistani state broadcaster has said, citing security sources. Multiple explosions have been heard in the Indian cities of Amritsar and Jammu, according to Reuters witnesses, and in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar. G7 countries have called for an immediate de-escalation between India and Pakistan and encouraged them to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome, Reuters is reporting. The Group of Seven includes the US, UK, France and Germany. Hello and welcome to our coverage of the India-Pakistan crisis. Pakistan’s army spokesman says India has fired missiles at three air bases inside the country, but most of the missiles have been intercepted. Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif said all Pakistan air force assets were safe. He made this announcement during his televised address, saying some of the Indian missiles had also hit India’s eastern Punjab. The news comes after Pakistan was accused of launching a fresh wave of drone strikes against India, with projectiles reported over the states of Indian-administered Kashmir and Punjab. The allegations were yet another alarming confrontation between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries, since India’s missile strikes on nine sites in Pakistan on Wednesday killed 31 people. Those strikes in turn were India’s response to an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir late last month, in which militants killed 25 Hindu tourists and a guide. Follow the developments with us.