Two sworn enemies, both nuclear armed. A disputed region. A deadly attack on tourists. And now, retribution.
India launched military strikes against Pakistan on 7 May when the tensions between the two rival countries spiral.
“Everything can happen,” a former top official of Pakistani safety told USA Today.
India said that the missiles launched aimed at “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and by Pakistan Kashmir, the distributed Himalayan territory of which India also controls part.
Pakistan's army said it shot five Indian planes during the attack – a claim that is not confirmed by India.
Men gather to attend funeral prayers of people who were killed after a Madrasa was hit by an Indian strike in Bahawalpur, Pakistan on May 7, 2025.
Pakistan said that India's attack killed at least 26 civilians and was injured 46 more. The Indian army said that at least 10 civilians were killed and 35 were injured in cross -border shelling by Pakistani troops in Kashmir.
While the military promises of Pakistan respond further to the strikes of India, this is what you need to know about the escalating crisis.
A tourist massacre and retribution
India blames Pakistan for an attack of April 22 in Pahalgam, a picturesque Himalaya meadow, in which 26 tourists were killed, most of them Hindu men. India has accused Pakistan for decades of supporting militant attacks and says that a group has carried out a group in connection with Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant outfit based in Pakistan, the Pahalgam attack.
Pahalgam attack 26 tourists killed in India-controlled Kashmir
A soldier of the Pakistani army stands for the damaged bilale mosque after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-assessed Kashmir, 7 May 2025.
Pakistan says that the evidence has been manufactured and denies any involvement.
India described his 7 May attack “Operation Sindoor”, a reference to the Red Vermilion powder supported by married Hindu women. This is a clear reference to Indian women who are a widower to the attack of 22 April.
What is behind Pakistan-India voltages?
Nuclear armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought several wars and have been involved in a number of military impasse since he became independence of Great Britain in 1947.
A timeline of conflict: India and the wars of Pakistan
India and Pakistan both fully claim the mainly the Muslim region Kashmir. Each controls only part of it. The attack on Pahalgam was the deadliest attack on citizens in Kashmir in recent years. Pakistan individually accuses India of supporting separatist rebels in Pakistan, who denies India.
India-Pakistan: Where do things go from?
The United Nations, China – Die India and Pakistan Buren – France and Russia all called to maximum restraint.
President Donald Trump called the fighting 'a pity' and added: “I hope it ends soon.” The US State Secretary Marco Rubio spoke with the national security advisers of both countries and insisted on avoiding 'escalation'.
A cold hotline in India-Pakistan
The India embassy in Washington said in an e-mail statement that the country's military actions were “focused and accurate” and “designed to be non-escalating in nature”.
A border officer is a guard at the Attari-Wagah intersection on the border between India-Pakistan on 25 April 2025.
Nevertheless, Yusuf, a former national security adviser of Pakistan, said in a telephone interview that India and Pakistan do not have “robust bilateral escalation control mechanisms.” He said that the international community, especially the United States, has taken a somewhat detached position on the crisis.
“President Trump has signaled:” You know, they will figure it out for yourself, “he said.
Yusuf noted that for a reason the South Azia region has been labeled the most likely nuclear flash point.
One factor is geography. In contrast to the nuclear warfare that existed between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Pakistan and India are not separated at a meaningful distance. There is no time for 'reasons', he said.
The countries also do not use their 'hotlines', a system that makes direct leader-to-leader communication possible, Yusuf noted. Under such circumstances, he said, miscommunication and misunderstandings can lead to serious consequences.
What do water and nuclear weapons have to do with the crisis in India-Pakistan?
In the midst of the crisis, India threatened to stop the current from river water across the border to Pakistan, where it is an essential stock for 80% of the farms. The Treaty of the 1960 Indus Waters controls this regulation of river exchange.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suspended the treaty after the attack on Pahalgam. The leaders of Pakistan have warned that any attempt to fully stop the flow of water would be considered a act of war.
Yusuf said that this could come down on a “red line” for Pakistan because it could effectively “starve” millions of Pakistani.
Indian Security Force Personnel is a guard in the vicinity of the site of a fighter crash in Wuyan in India-assessed Kashmir on 7 May 2025.
India's national security adviser Ajit Doval said the Indian media that his nation “was not planning to escalate”, but “well prepared to resolute revenge would decide to escalate.”
Nine countries have nuclear weapons, according to the international campaign based in Geneva to abolish nuclear weapons: Russia, the US, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea. Pakistan has an estimated 170 nuclear nuclear heads. India has 164, according to Ican.
“When survival is in doubt, something can happen. No witty spirit should ever think of that moment,” Yusuf added, referring to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan. “That is why it is essential to stop now, instead of testing that proposition.”
This article originally appeared on USA Today: India Nuclear Rival Pakistan attacked. What happens afterwards?
