Fears raised of escalating conflict after statement accusing India of 'igniting an inferno' in Kashmir and Punjab
Pakistan has authorized its military to take "corresponding" retaliatory action against India after overnight missile attacks by the Indian air force killed 31 people, raising fears of an escalating conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries.
In a strongly worded statement, Pakistan accused India of "igniting an inferno" in the region after it carried out targeted strikes on nine sites in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab in the early hours of Wednesday.
India said the strikes were a direct retaliation for an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir late last month, in which militants killed 25 Hindu tourists and their guide. India had accused Pakistan of direct involvement in the attacks, through Islamist militant organizations it has long been accused of backing
In an interview with the Guardian in Islamabad, Pakistan's deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar - who is also the foreign minister - said the country would go to "any extent" to defend its dignity. "We reserve the right to authorize the armed forces to take any proper actions in response - and those will be measured, proportionate and responsible," said Dar.
He refused to be drawn into a timeline on any reprisal attacks but said the plans would be led by the powerful army chief, Gen Asim Munir, who would consult with the coalition government. "What measures we can take when and where - I think it's too premature to be discussed at this stage," said Dar. "There is no minimum or maximum response time."
Dar was adamant that until now, Pakistan had exercised "patience and maximum restraint" in the face of India's accusations and attacks. "Yes, there is a huge economic loss attached to any full-fledged war. But when the question [is] of sovereignty, integrity of the country, territorial integrity, dignity of the nation, then then there is no price," he said.
Dar also expressed his frustration at the international community, which has so far been reluctant to get involved in the latest dispute between India and Pakistan, beyond urging restraint. Calls by Pakistan for assistance in carrying out an independent investigation into the Kashmir attacks had gone unanswered, he said.
Under previous presidents, the US was highly proactive in helping to de-escalate conflicts between India and Pakistan, often averting all-out war. However, Dar noted that the Trump administration had been reluctant to take on the same mediation role. "Yes, in the past US presidents have played an active role. But each administration has its own style of working," he said.
He added: "It is also the responsibility of the global community because any consequences and negative economic impacts of any such war will not be limited to India-Pakistan. It will cross international boundaries eventually."
After India's airstrikes on Wednesday, which killed 31 people including several children and injured dozens more, it jubilantly claimed victory over Pakistan.
The Indian army said the strikes had targeted terrorists and terrorist training camps for two Islamist militant groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which have long been accused of freely operating out of Pakistan and have been implicated in some of India's deadliest terror attacks.
"We killed only those who killed our innocents," said India's defence minister, Rajnath Singh, while the home affairs minister, Amit Shah, said the government was "resolved to give a befitting response to any attack on India and its people".
The Indian army described the missile strikes as "not escalatory, proportionate and responsible".
Pakistan said that the "unprovoked and unjustified attacks martyred innocent men, women and children", and denied the existence of any terrorist camps or infrastructure in the areas struck by India. This was reiterated by Dar who said there were "no terrorist outfits" in the areas struck by India.
For the first time since the India-Pakistan war in 1971, Indian missiles struck inside Punjab, Pakistan's most politically and militarily important province, killing at least 16 people there.
Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said his country saw India's strikes as a "blatant act of war" and intended to take retaliatory action, though he did not say what form that would take. At a meeting of the national security council on Wednesday, Sharif's government gave the country's military authorization to take action to defend Pakistan's sovereignty "at a time, place, and manner of its choosing".
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At a session of parliament on Wednesday, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, co-chair of the Pakistan People's party, which rules as part of the coalition government, reaffirmed the country's right to defend itself and said that Pakistan's answer to India's attacks "has yet to come".
"Pakistan has the right to respond to this attack however it wants," he