Kashmir Flare-up

India and Pakistan are at it again. 

On Wednesday (20:00 GMT, Tuesday), India launched "Operation Sindoor", a series of air strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Delhi said nine sites were targeted but Pakistan asserted only six locations were hit. India explained those were "terrorist infrastructure" – places where attacks were "planned and directed". On the other hand, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told GeoTV that the strikes hit civilian areas, adding that India's claim of "targeting terrorist camps" was false. 

In response, Pakistan "fired artillery" across the dividing lines in Kashmir. And the country's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, in an address to the nation, trumpeted that Pakistan had downed five Indian jets (three Rafale jets, one MiG-29 and one SU-30), and a Heron surveillance drone – a claim Delhi has not confirmed. 

As they both pulled the trigger, civilians get killed and injured. Pakistan reported 31 people dead and 57 wounded by Indian air strikes. India's army meanwhile, claimed at least 15 civilians were blasted by Pakistani shelling on their side of the de facto border. 

For context: India’s strikes on May 07 were to avenge a deadly militant attack that killed at least 26 men – 25 tourists and a local pony rider – after segregating them from women. This occurred in the picturesque resort town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. Indian police have alleged that two of the four attackers were Pakistani nationals, with Delhi accusing Pakistan of supporting militants – a charge Islamabad denies. On May 07, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri pointed the finger at Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group carried out the attack. 

Since the attack two weeks ago, tensions have escalated, culminating in already limited diplomatic relations taking a further hit. India has suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty, under which it shares waters from six rivers with Pakistan. Because India is the upper riparian state, it could, in theory, restrict Pakistan’s access to water to which it is entitled and on which it depends. India also revoked visas for Pakistani nationals. Pakistan threatened to suspend the Simla Agreement. Both countries have expelled each other’s diplomats and nationals, while the nations have also closed their borders and shuttered airspace.

[Note: Kashmir has been a flashpoint between the two countries since Partition in 1947]. 

Both India and Pakistan fought three of their four previous wars over Kashmir, spanning 22,200 square kilometres (85,800 square miles). The two neighbors currently control parts of Kashmir – with China controlling some parts of it – but continue to claim it in full.