India and Pakistan: Two nuclear powers clash

Indian missiles have hit Pakistan, which responded with artillery fire. Tensions between the two countries, in Kashmir, have reached an extreme level. There are already dozens of casualties.

The border between India and Pakistan, in Kashmir, has been a source of tension between the two countries for several decades. However, following an attack on 22 April 2025 that resulted in 26 deaths in Pahalgam, in Indian Kashmir, the situation has escalated. The two nuclear powers have carried out military actions this week. Thus, India launched missiles on the night of Tuesday 6 May to Wednesday 7 May 2025 on 9 targets in Pakistan. New Delhi refers to them as "terrorist" facilities. A mosque in Bahawalpur in Punjab and the Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric dam were hit by its strikes. Pakistan formally denies any involvement in the April 2025 attack and refutes the terrorist nature of the targeted sites. As a result, it retaliated with artillery fire towards Indian territory around the Indian village of Poonch.

At least 30 dead

The Indian missile strikes and Pakistani artillery fire have affected civilians. Pakistan announced that the bombings killed 26 people and injured at least 46 on its territory. On the Indian side, the toll would be 8 dead and 29 injured. Furthermore, three Indian fighter jets crashed during the operations. Pakistan claims to have hit 5 fighters and a drone directly in Indian airspace while defending against strikes carried out by India. These are the most serious military operations between these two military powers in 20 years.

Meetings and reactions

To analyse the situation after its neighbour's attack, Islamabad convened a Pakistani National Security Committee with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country's top civilian and military officials. In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, international diplomacy has also come into play. Iran sent its Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, to New Delhi after his visit to Islamabad on Monday. Tehran wants to initiate mediation. The American chief diplomat Marco Rubio was able to speak with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts. He urged them to start a dialogue to defuse the situation.

Stay Calm

The same message comes from Beijing, which urges both countries to remain "calm". Jean-Noël Barrot, the head of French diplomacy, also called on both countries to remain calm. He stated on TF1 that "We [France] understand India's desire to protect itself against the scourge of terrorism, but we obviously call on both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint to avoid escalation and obviously to protect civilians". France, which supplies fighter aircraft to India, with some units reportedly shot down by Pakistan.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Sources: RFI – 7sur7.be – RTL info – Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Sajad Hameed)