PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: India launched missile strikes on three locations in Pakistan—Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Ahmed Pur East in Bahawalpur—citing Pakistan’s alleged role in a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, in Indian Kashmir. It has has also suspended the Indus Water Treaty, cutting off water to Pakistan.
👥 Who’s Involved: India’s military, Pakistan’s military, Pakistani Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
📍 Where & When: Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Bahawalpur District, Pakistan, on May 6, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “Pakistan would respond to Indian attacks at the time and place of our own choosing. These attacks would not go unanswered,” Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated.
⚠️ Impact: The strikes heighten the risk of a broader conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, with both sides on edge and diplomatic efforts struggling to de-escalate.
IN FULL:
India has launched missile strikes on three sites in Pakistan: Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Ahmed Pur East in Bahawalpur. The attacks, which Pakistan’s military called “unprovoked,” follow India’s claims that Pakistan was behind a brutal terror attack in Pahalgam, in Indian Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in one of the deadliest assaults since 2000.
According to Indian sources, including reports from The Times of India, New Delhi believes the Pahalgam attack bore hallmarks of Pakistan-backed militancy, pointing to alleged “cross-border linkages” involving groups operating from Pakistani soil. Indian officials have long accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists who infiltrate Indian Kashmir, which Pakistan claims, to destabilize the region. India’s decision to grant its military “operational freedom” reflects its frustration with what it sees as Pakistan’s complicity in fostering violence across the Line of Control.
Additionally, India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty, stopping the flow of water into Pakistan. “India’s water used to go outside; it will now stop for India’s interests and will be utilised for the country,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pakistan’s Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations, vowed that “Pakistan would respond to Indian attacks at the time and place of our own choosing.”