In its own statement, the Pakistani government called the Indian strikes “an unprovoked and blatant act of war” that had “violated Pakistan’s sovereignty.” Pakistani officials also said that civilians had been killed in the Indian strikes, a claim that could not be independently confirmed.
Pakistan said that the Indian actions “will not go unanswered” and that it would respond at “a time and place of its own choosing.” Pakistani military officials said they had begun a “measured but forceful” response.
At the White House, President Trump called the escalation between India and Pakistan “a shame.”
“We just heard about it,” he said of the Indian strikes. “They’ve been fighting for a long time. I just hope it ends very quickly.” Shortly after the strikes, the Indian national security adviser, Ajit Doval, briefed Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the military actions, according to Indian officials.
A spokesman for the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, called for restraint from the two sides, adding, “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
But the scale and nature of the attacks by India are likely to provoke a “significant retaliation” by Pakistan, said Asfandyar Mir, a senior fellow in the South Asia program at the Stimson Center in Washington.
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