New Delhi: India on Saturday said it had hit eight military installations in Pakistan in response to the neighbouring country’s “provocative” action of targeting its defence infrastructure and civilian areas using drones, long-range weapons and fighter jets.
The Pakistani installations hit included a weapons depot and control centres, India’s military said as the two countries teetered on the brink of full-scale war.
Pakistan is also moving its troops into forward areas, indicating an “offensive intent”, to further escalate the situation, an Indian military spokesperson said. India, stressed Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, remains in a high state of operational readiness.
As fears of a larger military conflict loomed, Qureshi said Indian armed forces reiterate their commitment to non-escalation, provided it is reciprocated by the Pakistani military.
She was addressing a special press briefing along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Misri said India has responded to the Pakistani military’s “provocative” and “escalatory” actions in a measured manner and that Islamabad has resorted to a wanton campaign of targeting innocent people and civilian infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The fresh military offensives by the two sides since last night mark the most severe confrontation following India striking terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir in the early hours of May 7. Conducted under Operation Sindoor, it was in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 people were killed.
Briefing reporters on the events since Thursday night, Qureshi said Pakistan in a “cowardly” act attacked a medicare centre and school premises at air bases of Srinagar, Awantipora and Udhampur. Several “high-speed missile” attacks were noticed after 1.40 am at several air bases in Punjab causing some damage, she said.
Pakistan used drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions, jets to attack India’s military sites along the Western front, Qureshi said. All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded appropriately, she said.
“In a swift and calibrated response, Indian armed forces carried out precision attacks only on identified military targets,” she said.
Pakistani military targets at Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian were engaged using air-launched precision weapons from Indian fighter jets and the retaliation largely focused on command and control centres, radar sites and weapon storage areas, Qureshi said.
Radar sites at Pasrur and the Sialkot aviation base were also targeted using precision munitions, she said, adding that India ensured minimum collateral damage while carrying out these responses.
Wing Commander Singh added that the Pakistani military continued with its “provocations”, carrying out “aggressive actions” employing multiple threat vectors all along the western border.
Pakistan military also resorted to air intrusions using drones and firing of heavy calibre weapons along the Line of Control (LoC), she said.
Along the international border and the LoC, air intrusions and several “harassment attacks” were also attempted from Srinagar till Naliya at more than 26 locations, the officer added.
“Indian armed forces successfully neutralised these threats and the majority of the vectors. However, limited damage was sustained to equipment and personnel at Indian air force stations at Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj,” she added.
The helicopter pilot said Pakistan also attempted to execute a continued malicious misinformation campaign with claims of destruction of Indian S-400 system at Adampur, destruction of airfields at Suratgarh and Sirsa, BrahMos base at Nagrota, artillery gun positions at Dehrangyari and Chandigarh Forward Ammunition Depot.
India unequivocally rejects these false narratives being spread by Pakistan, she said.
The officer also showed some images of air force bases in the Punjab and Rajasthan sectors, debunking the Pakistani claims of causing destruction at these facilities.
“You can also see the normalcy at these air force stations,” she said, showing images of runways remaining “intact” at the Sirsa and Suratgarh air force bases.
Qureshi said Pakistan attempted multiple air intrusions using drones and conducted shelling using heavy-calibre artillery guns along the LoC, targeting civilian infrastructure and killing some civilians.
Heavy exchange of artillery mortars and small-arm fire in Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors continued and Indian Army has responded effectively and proportionately, causing extensive damage to Pakistan Army, she noted.
In his remarks at the briefing, Misri described as “false” Pakistan’s allegations that Indian missiles have hit Afghanistan.
“This is yet again a completely ludicrous claim that Indian missiles have hit Afghanistan. Totally frivolous allegation.”
As tensions between India and Pakistan soared, the powerful Group of Seven (G7) nations urged India and Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint and called for immediate de-escalation of the situation through dialogue.
In a phone conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised that India and Pakistan need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation.
He further proposed the US support in facilitating “productive discussions” between the two sides to “avert future disputes”, US Statement Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Separately, Saudi Arabia said it was making efforts to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan, end current military confrontations, and promote the resolution of all disputes through dialogue and diplomatic channels.
