Pakistan’s information minister said on Wednesday, April 30th, that Islamabad had “credible intelligence” that India was planning an imminent military strike and he vowed a “decisive response,” as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.
The statement by Attaullah Tarar came after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting the previous day with army and security chiefs, at which he gave the military “complete operational freedom” to respond to the attack.
“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,” Tarar said in a statement.
Pahalgam is a tourist hub in Indian-administered Kashmir where 26 men were killed on April 22nd, the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years.
India has accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, a claim Islamabad has rejected.
