- Friday, May 23, 2025
Two Pakistani ministers have sounded that they are willing to de-escalate if India stops further attacks
By: India Weekly
AMID escalating tensions, Pakistan on Saturday (10) said it will consider de-escalation if India stops further attacks.
“Pakistan will consider de-escalation if India stops further attacks. However, if India launches any further strikes, our response will follow,” foreign minister Ishaq Dar told Geo News after he spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Dar’s statement, echoed by Information Minister Atta Tarar, came as the Indian and Pakistani militaries targeted each other’s installations using missiles in the last more than 12 hours, further escalating the already tense conflict situation.
“Pakistan had no choice, so our civil military leadership made the decision following the attack on Nur Khan Air Base. No more patience. We are just giving them a response,” Dar said.
“The action that the Pakistan civil military leadership has taken is proportionate. Many more actions can be taken, and we are ready for that, but this is the minimum action being taken just now,” he said.
“This operation that we started today will all end in some way. It all depends on what India wants,” he reiterated.
Information Minister Tarar told the BBC that de-escalation is in the hands of India.
“It is in the hands of India… If India de-escalates (we will follow),” Tarar said when asked if Pakistan will de-escalate.
Tarar added that Pakistani troops are deployed at the borders in response to India’s action.
Analysts and diplomats have long feared that conflict between the rivals could escalate into the use of nuclear weapons.
Pakistan defense minister Khawaja Asif played down any immediate nuclear threat, calling it a “very distant possibility”.
“We shouldn’t even discuss it in the immediate context,” he told ARY TV.
“Before we get to that point, I think temperatures will come down. No meeting has happened of the National Command Authority, nor is any such meeting scheduled.”
However, if the situation comes up, the ‘watchers’ will be affected as well,” Asif told Geo News.
“I am telling the world that this is not going to be confined to the region only, it could be much wider … this destruction. Our options are being reduced considering the situation India is creating,” he warned.
As tensions remain high, residents across Pakistan and India have rushed to stockpile food and other essential supplies, while families living near the border fled to safer areas.
Indian authorities have installed sirens in high-rise buildings in New Delhi, some 650 kilometres from the border.
Pakistan early on Saturday said it had targeted multiple bases in India, including a missile storage site in India’s north, in response to prior attacks by the Indian military.
India said there was limited damage to equipment and personnel at four air force stations. The military said there were several high-speed missile attacks on air bases in Punjab state and that India had responded to the attacks.
Five civilians were killed in the attacks in the Jammu region of Indian Kashmir, regional police said. Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part.
Blasts rang out across Kashmir and Amritsar in neighbouring Punjab until early morning on Saturday. Jammu streets were empty hours after loud blasts were heard and projectiles were seen flying across the city sky.
Pakistan said that, before its offensive, India had fired missiles at three air bases, including one close to the capital, Islamabad, but Pakistani air defences intercepted most of them. (Agencies)
