Pakistan and India hint at de-escalation after trading missile strikes

ISLAMABAD AP India and Pakistan on Saturday signaled they were ready to de-escalate their conflict if the other reciprocates following missile and drone attacks on each other s military bases in the largest part serious confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades The two have been locked in hostilities after a gun massacre last month that India blames on Pakistan Pakistan s foreign minister announced his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks However Ishaq Dar warned that if India launched any strikes our response will follow Dar communicated Pakistan s Geo News that he also conveyed this message to U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio who contacted him after Rubio spoke to New Delhi earlier We responded because our patience had reached its limit If they stop here we will also consider stopping Dar added India stated it targeted Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the country s Punjab state early Saturday Pakistan earlier revealed it intercepted the majority missiles and that retaliatory strikes on India were underway Rubio spoke to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and reestablish direct communication to avoid miscalculation State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reported Saturday and offered U S promotion to facilitate productive discussion India says it s committed to non-escalation Indian Col Sofiya Qureshi at a news conference in New Delhi mentioned Pakistan targeted robustness facilities and schools at its three air bases in Indian-controlled Kashmir Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions she announced Wing Commander Vyomika Singh also present at the news conference commented India was committed to non-escalation provided that Pakistan reciprocated However Pakistani ground forces were observed mobilizing toward forward areas she noted indicating an offensive intent to further escalate the situation Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness she added Singh declared Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes only at identified military targets in response to Pakistani actions which included technical infrastructure command and control centers radar sites and weapon storage areas to ensure minimum collateral damage All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded to appropriately disclosed Singh The Pakistani military noted it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and air bases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif explained Pakistan s air force assets were safe following the Indian strikes Indian strikes target Pakistani air base in Rawalpindi State-run Pakistan Television shared that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the National Command Authority which oversees the country s missile campaign and other strategic assets Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have soared since an attack at a popular tourist site in India-controlled Kashmir left civilians dead mostly Hindu Indian tourists on April New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for backing the assault an accusation Islamabad rejects Indian missiles Saturday targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province according to Pakistan s military spokesman There were no immediate reports of the strike or it aftermath from residents in the densely populated Rawalpindi Explosions in India-controlled Kashmir Following the announcement of Pakistani retaliation residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir commented they heard loud explosions at multiple places in the region including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu and the garrison town of Udhampur Explosions that we are hearing at present are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks revealed Shesh Paul Vaid the region s former top police official and Jammu resident It looks like a war here Vaid disclosed explosions were heard from areas with military bases adding it appeared that army sites were being targeted Srinagar appeared calm early Saturday but particular residents in neighborhoods close to the city s airport which is also an air base revealed they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of fighter jets I was already awake but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep They started crying mentioned Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin adding he heard at least two explosions Praveen Donthi a senior analyst with the International Predicament Group for India noted the two countries were at war even if they had not yet labelled it as one It s become a remorseless race for military one-upmanship with no apparent strategic end goals from either side explained Donthi With increasing civilian casualties on both sides finding an exit or off-ramp is going to be challenging India and Pakistan have traded strikes and heavy cross-border fire for days resulting in civilian casualties on both sides Hussain revealed from Srinagar India Saaliq and Roy published from New Delhi Associated Press writers Babar Dogar in Lahore Pakistan Asim Tanveer in Multan Pakistan and Riaz Khan in Peshawar Pakistan contributed to this analysis Source