New Delhi/Islamabad: In a marked shift in tone, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday indicated willingness to de-escalate tensions with India following a series of precision strikes carried out by the Indian military in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Hours after the Indian Armed Forces launched non-contact strikes on nine terrorist-linked targets—four in Pakistan’s Punjab province and five in PoK—as part of Operation Sindoor, Asif told a news channel that Islamabad was prepared to “wrap up” further action if New Delhi ceased its operations.
“This has been initiated by India. If India is ready to back down—they have taken the initiative—we have just responded,” Asif said. “We will never initiate anything hostile towards India. But if we are attacked, we will respond. If India backs down, we will definitely wrap up these things. But as long as we are under fire, we have to respond.”
Asif’s comments mark a departure from his earlier aggressive rhetoric on Tuesday, when he warned, “Either we survive or no one does.”
India’s retaliatory strikes followed the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives, including one Nepali national. The Indian government said the strikes were aimed at neutralising terrorist infrastructure and deterring future attacks.
Speaking to the media, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the strikes were “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible.”
“Our intelligence agencies monitoring terrorist activities indicated there could be more attacks on India. It was essential to stop and deter them. Operation Sindoor focused on dismantling terror infrastructure,” Misri stated.
He described the Pahalgam attack as an act of “extreme barbarity,” highlighting that most victims were killed execution-style in front of their families, with terrorists reportedly instructing survivors to “go tell your Modi.”
“This was a clear attempt to spread fear and sabotage the return to normalcy in Kashmir. Operation Sindoor is India’s direct and unambiguous response to such cowardice,” Misri said.
Indian authorities have maintained that the strikes were executed with high-precision weaponry to avoid civilian casualties, and that all targeted locations were tied to groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and other Pakistan-based terrorist outfits.
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