‘India may strike within 24 to 36 hrs’

Pakistan yesterday said it had "credible intelligence" that India was planning an imminent military strike and vowed to retaliate, as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.

Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted since New Delhi blamed its arch-rival Pakistan for last week's assault on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, the deadliest attack on civilians there in a quarter of a century.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the military "complete operational freedom" to respond to the attack during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, a senior government source told AFP.

Pakistan's government has denied any involvement in the shooting, and information minister Attaullah Tarar said overnight that "any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response".

"Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext," Tarar said in a statement early yesterday.

However, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan would not strike first.

Leaders around the world have expressed deep concerns and urged restraint by the uneasy neighbours who have fought several wars.

Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of around 15 million people, is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed in full by both nations.

About 1.5 million people live near the ceasefire line on the Pakistani side of the border, where residents were preparing for violence by preparing simple, mud-walled underground bunkers reinforced with concrete if they can afford it.

India yesterday shut its airspace to Pakistani airlines, the government said, days after its nuclear-armed neighbour banned Indian airlines from flying over its territory.

The ban on Pakistani aircraft will be from April 30 to May 23, according to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Indian government.

India's military yesterday said it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops for a sixth straight night across the Line of Control (LoC), a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts that represents the de facto Kashmir border.

A Pakistan security source said troops responded to "unprovoked firing" overnight, while another security source told AFP that two drones were shot down on Tuesday near the LoC "after violating our airspace".

According to media reports, India yesterday warned Pakistan against the unprovoked firing along the LoC,

The message was given during a call between the Directors General of Military Operations of the countries.

Sources said the two sides are mandated to speak once a week over the hotline that connects the two DGMOs in New Delhi and Rawalpindi. "It was a routine call," in which the matter of firing was raised, media reports in India and Pakistan said.

Since the Pahalgam attack, both countries have downgraded diplomatic ties, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut. India also suspended the Indus Waters Treaty.

The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls for restraint from several nations.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received a telephone call from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening, his office said in a statement yesterday.

Sharif urged the US to impress upon India to dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly, the statement added.

Earlier, the US State Department said Rubio would call his Pakistani and Indian counterparts.

UN chief Antonio Guterres held calls on Tuesday with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he "offered his Good Offices to support de-escalation", his spokesman said in a statement.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell yesterday, with analysts attributing investor anxiety to potential Indian military action.