The subcontinent stands at a dangerous crossroads following India’s brazen and provocative strikes on multiple locations in Azad Kashmir and Punjab. Launched under the guise of “Operation Sindoor,” these cross-border attacks have claimed at least 31 Pakistani lives, including civilians, and marked a serious violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. India’s justification — linking the operation to the recent tragedy in Pahalgam — rings hollow and dangerously inflames tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Indian government’s claim that the strikes were “non-escalatory in nature” defies reason and international norms. Bombing civilian neighbourhoods and infrastructure like the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project is not a measured response — it is an act of war. These developments have rightly been condemned in Pakistan, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warning India of serious consequences and the National Security Committee labelling the aggression as warlike. Pakistan has responded with restraint but firmness, stating that five Indian warplanes were downed during the encounter.
India’s rush to military action appears more politically motivated than security-driven. Instead of producing credible evidence linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam incident, the BJP-led government chose to exploit the tragedy to whip up anti-Pakistan sentiment and bolster its domestic standing. This cynical ploy not only fails to address the real issues behind the Pahalgam lapse but has also pushed the region to the edge of open conflict.
The international community has taken note, with several nations urging both sides to show restraint and offering to mediate. Pakistan has welcomed such gestures, but it remains to be seen whether India will reciprocate or persist in its belligerence. The current crisis underscores what the world cannot ignore: the Kashmir dispute remains unresolved, and any illusion that it has been “settled” is a dangerous delusion.
Peace in South Asia hinges on resolving the Kashmir issue through dialogue, not bombs. The BJP’s ideological ambitions, including the fantasy of ‘Akhand Bharat,’ must not dictate policy in a region teetering on the edge of war. Instead, India and Pakistan — alongside Kashmiri representatives — must engage in honest, direct, and sustained dialogue to seek a mutually acceptable resolution.
In the short term, both nations must pull back from the brink, with civil society and the media on both sides tempering their rhetoric. In the long term, only diplomacy can bring lasting peace. The choice is stark: dialogue or disaster. South Asia cannot afford another war.
