The eternal rivals of the South Asian subcontinent: India and Pakistan close their airspace to each other.

After Pakistan closed its airspace, India also shut down its airspace. The latest round of tensions between India and Pakistan was triggered by an attack that occurred on April 22, in which a serious bloodshed event happened at Pahalgam, a tourist destination in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. The attackers killed 25 Indians and 1 Nepalese, with nearly 20 others injured, most of whom were Indian citizens.

Following the incident, the Modi government ordered the closure of major border crossings leading to Pakistan.

Pakistan retaliated by closing its airspace to Indian airlines, putting pressure on them due to rising fuel costs and extended flight routes.

Pakistan said on Wednesday that it expected India to launch a military strike within two days, as Prime Minister Modi had agreed to retaliate against the recent attack in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region of Pahalgam. New Delhi believed Islamabad was responsible for the April 22 attack that killed 26 civilians, but no one claimed responsibility for it. The Pakistani government denied any involvement in the matter.

After a series of diplomatic sanctions, broken agreements, and visa cancellations, India and Pakistan began exchanging fire. For the seventh consecutive night from Wednesday to Thursday, soldiers from both sides exchanged fire along the Line of Control (LOC), the de facto border in Kashmir, with some instances being only tens of meters apart. Islamabad also announced that it had shot down two small Indian reconnaissance drones entering its Kashmir airspace within 24 hours.

However, according to military sources from both Pakistan and India, the previous day saw the weekly "routine" telephone talks between the two militaries, whose contents are usually confidential.

On the 30th, Pakistan's Information Minister Farhanq Tarar stated that Pakistan had reliable intelligence showing that India intended to launch a military attack, and vowed that Pakistan would respond decisively.

Source: rfi

India-Pakistan Conflict Rekindled

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