India responds to ‘unprovoked firing’ by Pakistan – media

The Indian Army continues to retaliate to Pakistani troops, who have engaged in unprovoked firing across the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir for the seventh straight day, ANI news agency has reported.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Suneel Bartwal, quoted by he agency, "Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small-arms fire across the Line of Control opposite Kupwara, Uri and Akhnoor in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir."

In an effort to address the ongoing cross-border firing, the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan held a conversation on Wednesday, according to media reports. According to News18, the Indian DGMO strongly cautioned his Pakistani counterpart regarding the alleged ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces along the LOC and the international border. 

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The cross-border firing comes against the backdrop of last week’s terrorist attack in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. Islamabad has vehemently denied that it had any role in the attack and has called for an impartial probe.

On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a cabinet meeting to explore possible courses of action following the Kashmir attack.

According to local media reports, on Tuesday, Modi informed the heads of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force that they have been granted “complete operational freedom” to determine the approach, targets, and timing of India’s response.

Several Pakistani officials have said an Indian strike on the country is imminent. “Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours, using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X on Tuesday evening. 

Retired Indian Army veteran Lt. Gen. Kamal Jit Singh told RT that India will probably conduct surgical strikes to hit terrorists but is unlikely to “cross the threshold” of an all-out war.

International analysts have expressed concerns of escalation and a major conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought four wars since they became independent in 1947.