Pakistan expects Indian attack within hours

The attack merely serves as a pretext for India. Armed attackers killed 26 people – mostly Indian tourists – on a mountain meadow in a holiday area near the town of Pahalgam in Indian Kashmir last Tuesday. The government in New Delhi accuses Pakistan of involvement, a claim the neighboring country denies. Since the attack, tensions between the two rival nuclear-armed powers have increased significantly.

The disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas is divided between Pakistan and India, but both claim the entire territory for themselves. The origins of the conflict date back to the colonial era. In 1947, Great Britain granted the Indian subcontinent independence. It was divided into India and Muslim Pakistan. The violent partition fuels a bitter rivalry to this day. Since gaining independence, the two countries have fought three wars against each other, two of them over Kashmir.