NEW DELHI, APR 30: Indian fighter jets patrolling above occupied Kashmir were forced to flee after the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) scrambled its jets, state media reported on Wednesday, adding to tensions between the two countries in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
India, without offering any evidence, has implied cross-border linkages of the attackers, while Pakistan’s political and military leadership have strongly denied any involvement. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for a neutral probe into the incident.
The tensions between the arch-rivals have intensified in the past few days, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying Pakistan had reinforced its forces and was ready for any incursion by India, while on the other side, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to act on the Pahalgam attack.
PTV News and Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, said that four Rafale fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were spotted conducting “patrolling overnight” in occupied Kashmir without crossing the Line of Control.
“PAF jets promptly detected the presence of these Indian warplanes,” Radio Pakistan added.
“As a result of PAF’s diligent action, the Indian Rafale jets panicked and were forced to flee,” PTV News reported. The security sources also reaffirmed that the armed forces were “fully prepared and vigilant to give a befitting response to any aggression from India”.
The government and the military have yet to provide details on the incident.
The development comes after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar earlier today said “credible intelligence” reports indicated that India was planning to conduct a military action against Pakistan in the “next 24 to 36 hours”.
In a televised statement issued shortly after 2am, Tarar said: “Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to carry out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident.”
The April 22 attack killed 26 people, mostly tourists, and was one of the deadliest armed attacks in the disputed Himalayan region since 2000. Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, said it “unequivocally” denied involvement in the attack, after an initial message that claimed responsibility.
Tarar said Pakistan vehemently rejected “Indian self-assumed hubristic role of judge, jury and executioner in the region” and it was completely “reckless”.
“Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism itself and truly understands the pain of this scourge,” the minister said, adding: “We have always condemned it in all its forms and manifestations anywhere in the world.”
Being a responsible state, Tarar noted, Pakistan “openheartedly offered a credible, transparent and independent investigation” by a neutral commission of experts to ascertain the truth.
“Unfortunately, rather than pursuing the path of reason, India has apparently decided to tread the dangerous path of irrationality and confrontation, which will have catastrophic consequences for the complete region and beyond,” he stressed.
The information minister said the “evasion of credible investigations is in itself sufficient evidence exposing India’s real motives”.
“Consciously making strategic decisions hostage to public sentiments, purposefully trumped up for securing political objectives, is unfortunate and deplorable,” he added.
Tarar reiterated that any such military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively.
“The international community must remain alive to the reality that the onus of [an] escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India.”
He reiterated the nation’s resolve to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan at all costs.
Deputy PM Ishaq Dar has said Pakistan will not strike India but reserves the right to retaliate. He informed the Senate yesterday that intelligence reports suggest that India was contemplating some form of escalation.
Today’s incident also comes after the Pakistan Army yesterday shot down two Indian quadcopters after they violated the country’s airspace along the Line of Control (LoC) in two separate areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), official sources said.
The first drone was brought down in the Manawar sector of Bhimber district, where it was reportedly engaged in aerial surveillance when intercepted and destroyed by Pakistani troops. The second unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down in Poonch division’s Satwal sector.
The downing of the drones occurred amid continued exchange of fire along the LoC in Leepa Valley since the night of April 25, breaking a period of relative calm in the region. No casualties were immediately reported.
Meanwhile, as concerns over a potential breakdown of peace grew, shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faced a major fall in intraday trade today.
PIA flights from Gilgit, Skardu cancelled
Amid heightened tensions, all Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights operating from the Skardu and Gilgit airports to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad — and vice versa — were cancelled today, according to PIA officials.
However, two Airblue flights destined between Skardu and Islamabad operated as per their schedule, the sources added.
The PIA official noted that the air route between Gilgit-Baltistan and other cities passes “near Indian territories”. When the passengers reached the airports, they were told that the flights had been cancelled due to security concerns.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 also confirmed the cancellations of a total of 10 PIA flights and departures of the two Airblue flights.
Iqra Khan, a flight inquiry officer at Islamabad International Airport (ISB), also told Dawn.com that PIA cancelled its flights today from the federal capital to Gilgit and vice versa, citing “airspace security” as a reason.
Yesterday, amid fears of airspace closures due to rising tensions with India, authorities had refuted rumours of a possible closure of airports.
According to IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Indian cyberattack attempts on the websites of some ministries were foiled earlier in the week.
The National Cyber Emergency Response Team (N-Cert) has warned media and content creators against sharing sensitive national security information.
Ex-PM Imran says peace is ‘priority’, calls for unity
Amid the ongoing situation, the opposition PTI has proposed a multi-party conference with incarcerated former premier Imran Khan in attendance.
A statement posted on Imran’s X account, which is handled by a PTI member, quoted the ex-premier as telling his lawyers yesterday: “Peace is our priority but it should not be mistaken as cowardice.”
Recalling the 2019 Pulwama-Balakot incidents during his tenure, Imran said, “We offered to extend all-out cooperation to India but India failed to produce any concrete evidence.
“[…] Instead of introspection and investigation, Modi sarkar is again placing the blame on Pakistan,” the former prime minister added.
He urged India to act responsibly instead of messing with a region already known as a “nuclear flashpoint”.
“I have always emphasised the importance of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, as guaranteed by United Nations resolutions,” Imran stressed.
“Needless to say, to win the war against an external enemy, the nation must first be united. It is high time to put a halt to all actions that are further polarising the nation,” he said, adding that the “state’s excessive focus on political victimisation at this critical time is deepening internal divisions”.
“Ironically, Narendra Modi’s aggression has united the people of Pakistan in one voice against Indian hostility,” the ex-premier noted.
India okays ‘operational freedom’ to army amid calls for restraint
A week after the Pahalgam attack, Modi yesterday told the armed forces that they had the “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the terror attack”, a senior government source who was not authorised to speak to the media told AFP.
The government released video images of a stern-faced Modi holding a closed-door meeting with his army and security chiefs, as well as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
India’s cabinet committee on security (CCS) — consisting of Modi and his interior, defence, home and finance ministers — is scheduled to meet later today, a government source told Reuters.
This would be the second such meeting of the CCS since the attack on April 22. In its first meeting, the committee had decided to take a series of measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty.
Last week, Modi vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam 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. “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.
Calls have also grown from Indian politicians and others for military action against Pakistan. Analysts say they fear bellicose statements will escalate into possible military action.
Amid escalating tensions, friendly countries and global powers have urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, advising them to solve the matter through diplomatic engagement.
Last night, US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to speak to the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan “as early as today or tomorrow”.
She said the US was reaching out to both parties regarding the Kashmir issue, and is expected to tell both sides not to escalate things any further.
Bruce said that Rubio was also encouraging leaders and foreign ministers from other nations to reach out over the issue.
Following the Pahalgam attack, US President Donald Trump had extended his “full support” to India. He later downplayed the regional tensions, saying the dispute would get “figured out”.
Iran has already offered to mediate, and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”. In the past few days, Dar has also spoken to the foreign ministers of China, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Hungary to brief them about Pakistan’s concerns.
The United Nations has urged the arch-rivals to show “maximum restraint”, with its chief Antonio Guterres yesterday offering “his good offices to support de-escalation efforts”.
In his phone call with the UN chief on Tuesday, PM Shehbaz encouraged him to counsel India to “act responsibly and exercise restraint”.
The worst attack in recent years in occupied Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a person rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.
Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later. The next day, the PAF undertook strikes across the LoC from Pakistani airspace.
Additional input from Jamil Nagri, Umar Bacha and Reuters
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