De-Escalation Urged as India and Pakistan Exchange Deadly Cross-Border Fire

By Kamaran Aziz

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — South Asia teeters dangerously on the edge of armed conflict as India and Pakistan engage in a volatile series of cross-border military strikes, drone attacks, and retaliatory operations that have thrust the region into its worst crisis in over two decades.

The past 48 hours have seen dramatic escalations, with both nuclear-armed neighbors exchanging accusations, downing drones, and striking strategic sites, while the international community scrambles to prevent a wider conflagration.

According to reports by The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, the sequence of hostilities began with India launching its deepest and most extensive airstrikes inside Pakistani territory since 1971.

Code-named Operation Sindoor, the strikes were framed as retaliation for an April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians. New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, citing what it called irrefutable intelligence links.

Islamabad has categorically denied involvement and called for an international investigation.

India said it targeted nine terrorist facilities in Pakistani Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Among the sites named were Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Bahawalpur, Muridke, and Sialkot.

While Indian officials insisted the strikes were "measured, precise, and non-escalatory," Pakistan reported 31 civilian deaths and 46 injuries, describing the operation as an "unprovoked act of war."

The retaliation was swift. By Thursday, Pakistan's military claimed to have downed at least 25 Indian drones in key urban areas including Lahore, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, and even near the port city of Karachi.

As BBC and Dawn reported, Pakistani authorities also said one Indian drone had struck a military facility in Lahore, injuring four soldiers. India countered that it had neutralized Pakistani drone and missile attacks on at least 15 military targets across Jammu, Udhampur, and Pathankot. Reports of blackouts, air-raid sirens, and explosions were confirmed by eyewitnesses in Amritsar and Jammu.

The New York Times cited Indian Defense Ministry claims that its forces struck Pakistani air defense radars near Lahore in response, while Pakistani media reported attacks on military installations and civilian infrastructure. Pakistan's military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry condemned what he described as India's "war hysteria," while asserting that Pakistan had "no choice but to respond."

One of the most symbolic developments of the crisis was India's choice to name its operation "Sindoor," a term with strong Hindu cultural connotations, which critics have argued politicizes the Indian military response and could fuel sectarian tensions.

Casualty figures remain contested. Pakistan says that Indian airstrikes and artillery fire have killed at least 31 people since Wednesday, while India says 16 civilians have died due to Pakistani shelling in border regions, including three women and five children.

Fear and chaos have gripped populations on both sides. Schools have been shuttered in parts of Kashmir. The U.S. Consulate in Lahore issued a shelter-in-place order amid reports of explosions and aerial incursions. Meanwhile, airports in northern India remain closed, and nearly 600 commercial flights over the two countries have been canceled or rerouted, according to Flightradar24 and Al-Monitor.

Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and several Asian carriers suspended operations over the conflict zone.

Foreign diplomats have scrambled to contain the crisis. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke separately with Indian and Pakistani leadership, urging "immediate de-escalation." The same message was echoed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Saudi Minister of State Adel al-Jubeir, both of whom made unannounced visits to New Delhi. "There is one thing that has to stop, which is a back-and-forth and a continuation," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a press briefing.

Despite public belligerence, there were hints of backchannel diplomacy. As Dawn and Reuters reported, national security advisors and military officials from both countries have made initial contact, albeit indirectly, suggesting the door for de-escalation remains slightly ajar.

But for ordinary civilians caught in the conflict zone, the fear is palpable. “Kashmir has been through a lot in the last three decades, but I have never been this scared,” Zahid, a resident of Pulwama, told The Washington Post, recalling how a jet crashed into a school near his home.

In Rawalpindi, Pakistani civilians took to the streets waving flags and chanting slogans in support of their military. In Jammu, Indian residents reported hearing sirens and witnessing flashes of light overhead as shelling continued through the night.

Strategically, India appears to be recalibrating its deterrence doctrine. As noted by analysts in The Indian Express, Operation Sindoor marks a shift from targeting exclusively insurgent camps near the Line of Control to striking deep inside Pakistani territory. Some observers see this as an attempt to redefine the "red lines" in South Asia's volatile security architecture.

Yet analysts also warn that any Pakistani retaliation targeting Indian military or strategic infrastructure could rapidly spiral into a larger war. "Targeting air defense systems involves particular risks," said Joshua White, a former U.S. National Security Council official, in comments to The New York Times. "It changes the tempo and character of a conflict."

Both countries continue to profess that they do not seek escalation. "We are only responding to the original escalation," said India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif echoed that message in an interview with BBC, stating: "We have not mounted anything so far. We will not strike and then deny."

Yet, amid the exchange of threats, bombardments, and information warfare, the situation remains precarious. President Donald Trump has offered to mediate, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with Fox News, struck a more sobering note:

"We're concerned about anytime nuclear powers collide and have a major conflict. What we've said, what Secretary Rubio said, and certainly the President has said is we want this thing to deescalate as quickly as possible. We can't control these countries, though. Fundamentally, India has its gripes with Pakistan. Pakistan has responded to India. What we can do is try to encourage these folks to deescalate a little bit, but we're not gonna get involved in the middle of a war that's fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America's ability to control it. [...] Our hope and our expectation is that this is not gonna spiral into a broader regional war or, god forbid, a nuclear conflict. But, sure, we're worried about these things."

As cross-border shelling intensifies and military rhetoric escalates, the international community is increasingly alarmed. The United Nations has issued urgent calls for calm, and regional powers including China, Iran, and the Gulf states are pushing for diplomatic resolution.

But in the bomb shelters of Uri, the blackout-stricken neighborhoods of Lahore, and the deserted streets of Jammu, people are bracing for what may come next. The specter of another war — conventional or nuclear — is no longer theoretical. It is a looming, lived possibility.