Islamabad turns the tables on New Delhi as de-escalation efforts reach fever pitch
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• ISPR says 31 lives lost, 57 injured in six Indian strikes, Lt-Gen Chaudhry accuses India of perpetrating ‘terrorism’ against innocent civilians
• Military touts shooting down five jets including Rafales; India claims three planes ‘crashed’ in its territory
• Firing continues across LoC; Neelum-Jhelum hydel project also targeted
• Trump urges both countries to stop, offers to help however he can
• Erdogan conveys message of solidarity
• UN says world can’t afford conflict in S. Asia
• Dar confirms contact between national security advisers on both sides
• UNMOGIP team visits damaged sites in AJK as emergency response centre set up to coordinate relief efforts
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday mourned the loss of 31 lives in attacks by Indian forces on civilians, terming New Delhi’s actions “terrorism” and accusing it of continuous ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC).
Despite a ramping up of rhetoric from the Indian side, diplomatic channels remained open, as Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed contact between the national security advisers of India and Pakistan, and US President Donald Trump urged both sides to stop the violence.
“I want to see it stop. And if I can do anything to help, I will. I will be there,” he said.
The Pakistan military touted the downing of five Indian fighter jets as a major victory — a claim which was seemingly acknowledged when Indian officials admitted that at least three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory.
On Wednesday, as both countries continued to trade heavy artillery fire, authorities revealed the extent of the damage caused by Indian strikes on six locations — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakkargarh in Punjab and Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Azad Kashmir.
The military’s chief spokesperson said that at least 57 people had been injured in the attacks, while a hydropower project was also shelled by Indian forces.
Muzaffarabad Deputy Commissioner Mudasser Farooq said the intake structure of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) was targeted the previous night, which damaged the intake gates and a hydraulic protection unit. An ambulance belonging to the project was also hit.
Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that as per the Geneva Conventions, it was prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects that were indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as drinking water supplies/installations and irrigation works.
Trump’s plea & NSAs’ chat
Donald Trump called for India and Pakistan to halt their fighting immediately, and offered to help end the worst violence between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades. “It’s so terrible,” Mr Trump said at the White House. “I get along with both, I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.
“They’ve gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now, but I know both. We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop. And if I can do anything to help, I will. I will be there,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an interview to TRT World, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed that the national security advisers of India and Pakistan had been in touch. Mr Dar was questioned about whether the NSAs had spoken after the overnight action, to which he said: “Yes there has been contact between the two.”
Pakistan had recently named ISI Director General Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik as the NSA, while his counterpart from India is Ajit Doval. Earlier, NDTV quoted Doval as telling his foreign counterparts that India has no intention to escalate. However, other voices in the Indian government seemed to contradict his sentiment.
Indian ‘operation’ and ‘crashes’
According to New Delhi, its strikes targeted “terrorist camps” that served as recruitment centres, launchpads, and indoctrination centres, and housed weapons and training facilities. “Intelligence and monitoring of Pakistan-based terror modules showed that further attacks against India were impending, therefore it was necessary to take pre-emptive and precautionary strikes,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, the top official in its external affairs ministry, told the briefing.
Pakistan claimed to have shot down at least three Rafale fighters, and two Russian-made fighter jets during engagements.
Although India did not confirm Pakistan’s claim of shooting down five of its jets, local government sources in Indian-held Kashmir told Reuters that three fighter jets had crashed in separate areas during the night.
All three pilots had been hospitalised, the sources added. Indian defence ministry officials were not immediately available to confirm the report.
Images circulating on local media showed a large, damaged cylindrical chunk of silver-coloured metal lying in a field at one of the crash sites.
Meanwhile, CNN quoted a French security official as saying that at least one of the downed aircraft was, in fact, a Rafale aircraft.
Preparations in AJK, held Kashmir
Meanwhile, preventive measures were taken along the Line of Control on Wednesday, as the AJK government on Wednesday established a Central Emergency Response Centre to coordinate rescue, relief, and damage assessment efforts.
Officials in Muzaffarabad, Haveli, Poonch, and Kotli noted that a precise evaluation of property losses was still underway. As part of the emergency measures, all educational institutions across the region were ordered closed until further notice.
In Muzaffarabad’s Shawai area, a mosque struck by missiles — killing three people, including its 80-year-old caretaker — remained the focus of high-profile visits throughout the day.
Among the visitors were members of the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), who were briefed by military officials on the unprovoked Indian attack.
Deputy Commissioner Farooq said many residents had been evacuated from Shawai overnight and returned home by the afternoon. Residents who lived near the mosque shared harrowing accounts of the attack.
“At first, we had no idea what was happening. My daughter and I had just stepped into the veranda when she was struck by shrapnel. We immediately ran for cover,” said Safeer Awan, a lawyer whose house is located just metres from the mosque.
Erdogan conveys solidarity
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to convey his solidarity after Indian strikes, Reuters reported.
During the call, Mr Erdogan told the premier that Turkiye supported Pakistan’s “calm and restrained policies” in the crisis, his office said in a statement.
Mr Erdogan also described Islamabad’s call for an investigation into the Pahalgam attack as “appropriate”.
Meanwhile, the UN has renewed its call for “maximum restraint”, APP reported. Responding to questions at a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, UN Spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay reiterated that the world cannot afford a military confrontation between the two nations.
Asked whether the UN personnel serving the United Nations Observer Group in India and Pakistan, which monitors the Line of Control, were safe, she said, “Yes, we checked and everybody was safe.”
With input from AFP and Reuters. Anwar Iqbal in Washington and Tariq Naqash in Muzaffarabad also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2025
