After the strikes

Now that both India and Pakistan have fired their first salvos, it’s time to give diplomacy a chance.

Since the 1999 Kargil conflict, India and Pakistan have never been as close to a war as they are now. Tensions in South Asia have heightened following India’s air strikes in nine places in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday, during which it hit ‘terrorist hideouts’; at least 26 people were killed. In retaliatory fire, Pakistan claims to have downed multiple Indian fighter jets, while at least 10 Indian nationals perished. New Delhi says its Wednesday raids were proportionate, and targeted only at those who had sought to actively harm India. The strikes came in response to the brutal killing of 26 civilians, including a Nepali national, in India’s part of Kashmir on April 22. The Indian establishment immediately held the Pakistan military responsible for the attack. Pakistan, meanwhile, called for an independent investigation.