The Strategist

What is actually happening between India and Pakistan?



02/28/2019 - 03:14



After the Indian air force raided a camp of Islamist terrorists in Pakistan on Tuesday, Islamabad promised to respond to this “act of aggression” from India. Moreover, high-ranking Pakistani officials, who commented on the situation, said that Pakistan’s reaction would surprise everyone.



vishal dutta
vishal dutta
It seems that Islamabad is no less determined than India, which accuses the Pakistani authorities of involvement in the terrorist attack on February 14, which resulted in the death of 45 Indian soldiers.

Pakistani spokesman Maj. Gen. Asir Ghafoor said that the Pakistani Air Force shot down two Indian aircraft that, he said, had invaded Pakistani airspace. One plane fell on Pakistani territory, and the second - on Indian. The pilot of the aircraft that fell in Pakistan was detained.

On Wednesday, an aircraft of the Pakistani Air Force fired targets at Indian territory, but the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a statemen that it was done from its airspace, not crossing the border.

“We are not trying to escalate tensions,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “but we are fully prepared for such a development of events if we are forced to do so.” Therefore, we took action during the day without hiding.”

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj also spoke about the reluctance of escalation. He added that the Indian Armed Forces will act in accordance with the situation, but will be "restrained."

In addition to fighting in the air, there seems to be a propaganda war between India and Pakistan. Major General Ghafoor denied reports in the Indian media that the Indian Air Force aircraft, in turn, shot down the Pakistani F-16 fighter. Indian newspapers wrote that it allegedly invaded the airspace, but fell on the territory of Pakistan, and the pilot managed to eject.

"It is worth noting," he said, "that the Pakistani F-16s did not suffer, because today Pakistan did not lift the F-16 into the air."

The same Indian media and, in particular, Times of India reported that the Indian Air Force, unfortunately, did suffer losses, but lost not two, but one MiG-21. The fate of the pilot, they say, is unknown.

It is hard to say definitely what is really happening now in Kashmir. To embellish the events of the party began yesterday. Indian sources, for example, called the raid on the training camp of militants successful and reported more than 300 killed terrorists. However, Asif Gafur denied their statements. According to him, the Indian aircraft were frightened by the Pakistani F-16s that had risen into the air, dropped bombs in the forest, did not reach the target, did not harm anyone, and flew to India.

The contradictory reports of the parties to the conflict are a customary matter, but everyone understands that the situation has escalated to such a heat that has not been since the 1971 war, the most serious of the three Indo-Pakistani wars.

source: reuters.com




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